


White Demon, Red Scribe, Black Nightmare

by bamboofoxfireproductions, ShaeraHaek



Series: WDRSBN [2]
Category: Assassins Creed - Fandom, Assassins Creed Revelations - Fandom, D.Gray-man
Genre: AU, Angst, Apple of Eden, Assassins, Betrayal, Crossover, Death, Divided Loyalties, Fluff, Gen, Grief, Love Triangle, M/M, Manipulation, Multi, Past Relationship(s), Pieces of Eden, Reunion, Romance, Sequel, Templars, Tragedy, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-03 14:46:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 43
Words: 190,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5295323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bamboofoxfireproductions/pseuds/bamboofoxfireproductions, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShaeraHaek/pseuds/ShaeraHaek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Allen Walker, an Assassin reputed as the "White Demon", is hiding in Constantinople after fleeing Italy following a betrayal by some of his fellow assassins, when a friend from his childhood that disappeared ten years ago suddenly shows up again out of the blue to meet him, long after Allen gave up hope of ever seeing him again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote the parts for Lavi. Shaerahaek/Rhydwin wrote the parts for Allen.
> 
> Also be sure to read the prequel, _Part1: The Apprentice Bookkeeper and Devil's Fledgling_!

**White Demon, Red Scribe  
** **A D Gray-Man and Assassin's Creed Revelations Crossover**

* * *

A red-haired young man yawned and stretched his arms high over his head, trying to work some of the stiffness out of his shoulders as he leaned back in his seat, tilting precariously on the chair's back legs. To most, in light of the rolling pitch of the ship, this would probably be seen as a bad idea, but he managed to keep from falling backwards and instead glanced over the page of a book that lay splayed out in front of him – his own record log, scribbled by his own hand.

My, how far he'd traveled… he was going to need a new book soon, despite that he'd only just gotten this one in Azerbaijan perhaps a month earlier. Carrying it to one of the various hidden libraries of his clan was going to be annoying, especially when he amassed more books.

"Maybe I should cut back a little," he mused to himself. "There really is such a thing as _too much_ detail." But damn if he wasn't thorough in his work! So sure, he didn't _appear_ to always take his job as seriously as he should, but he was ranking high enough to fly solo now. He had to be doing _something_ right that his old man was trusting him on his own, finally, though it still felt a little weird to the mixed-Asian. Most of his life and through his entire apprenticeship, he could remember tagging along at his Gramp's heels, learning the ways of the Bookmen, following orders. Now he was freer than ever to make his own calls and seek out his own records, and it just seemed… odd.

He wasn't complaining though. It was nice not to have to mind himself as much around the old stiff, or get knocked over the head when he made a mistake, or just decided he wanted to tease someone to cure boredom.

"It's probably about time," he realized suddenly, his memory kicking in. They should be arriving at port right about now, the red-head packing up his odds and ends into a sizeable bag, and slinging them over his shoulder.

It was almost hard not to feel somewhat nostalgic. Pretty soon he'd be seeing a face that he hadn't laid eyes on in _ages_. Not since his mentor had pulled him away to do the work of his clan elsewhere.

He'd seen a lot in those passing years, some that he might have liked to forget, if he were the emotionally swayed type. A city overtaken and newly remade into a Capitol - _Tabriz, Iran, 1501_ , he recalled – then there had been a terrible massacre of nearly 4,000 Portuguese Jews over religious bigotry - _Lisbon, Portugal, 1506_ \- and the man known to have discovered another way to what might have been India and might have been some place entirely new had died - _Christopher Columbus… that was his name, right?_ \- and then there had been the invasion and occupation of India by the Portuguese military - _1510_ \- so it had been quite a number of years. Too many, were his opinion to matter at all on the subject.

Finally he was heading westward again, and it seemed like there were some interesting events starting to unfold in Istanbul. Of course the Ottoman were no new group to the world, but it seemed they were struggling to gain greater power as of late, snuffing out the fading Byzantines.

More _personally_ interesting, however, was the rumors he had heard on the Turkish roads heading in that general direction already anyway, whispers of a "white demon". Of course he had heard the term in more than one place before, to refer to more than one thing, but more details on the rumor assured him that it referred to one thing – no. One _person_ in particular – whom he was very much interested in seeing.

At any rate, he knew that there was a branch of that person's affiliates stationed in Istanbul, so even if he wasn't there, the redhead was sure he could at least find information on where that person might be found.

He wondered which alias to go with. It had changed again since they had seen each other, as it did with every mission his clan assigned him to, with none really being his 'name'. In all truth, he had no name. It was the custom of their clan.

Which alias had he been going by when they'd last seen each other…?

 _Lavi_.

That sounded right. He smiled in reminiscence. It had definitely been a long time since he'd gone by _that_ name. He supposed it was only fitting to go by it again, since that was the one he was known by to that individual.

Stepping onto the topside deck, he watched contently as it pulled into port. He briefly said his goodbyes to those on deck that he'd become acquainted with, especially the ship's navigator who he'd had a wonderful time making friendly bets over who could navigate by the stars better, then made his way across the dock and into the streets.

Figures sitting near the dock eyed him, and more precisely, the sizeable bag he carried, but he merely returned their stares with a smile and a nod, acknowledging them while more discreetly making it clear that he saw them, so it would be less wise to try taking his things when he knew their faces clearly.

Merchants shouted and tried to finagle him into buying their wares, but he had little interest in them. Not for the sake of his clan's records, since they sometimes stored items from places and time periods as well as information, nor for his personal interest.

"Now then, _white demon_ … _white demon_ …" he hummed thoughtfully under his breath, lost to most of the noises of activity that filled the busy streets. "Where exactly might you be?"

Of course "Lavi" never expected for the infamous "white demon" to just come falling out of the sky… - or maybe he did, what with the Assassins' lifestyle of roof-climbing and acrobatics, it was always a possibility, merely an unlikely one – but he was somewhat disappointed not to immediately find the white-haired young man as he scoured the streets. He figured he would have spied something by now, even were the figure hiding somewhere in the crowds. Assassins were good at that, but Lavi's keen eye was better. Nothing escaped his attention, especially not when he was actually looking for something, and he knew the tell-tale beak-pointed hoods well.

He'd decided on finding a place to eat first. Taverns usually held a wealth of interesting information if one only knew how to pry it out of the lips of a barkeeper or other fellows within, and he'd been in and out of enough establishments to know how to play the information game.

He managed to get an adequate meal, and a small bit of information off of the bar-maid, who'd been willing to give up some of what she knew after a little bit of vocally flirtatious banter and a few charming smiles. That was one of the few things that he excelled at more than anything. He could by quite charismatic if he did say so himself, when it became necessary.

It seemed as if his quarry had been hopping around one place to another in town, mostly brothels, but basically anywhere that there was women and drink. Apparently the one Lavi was hunting was hunting for someone else. What was most reassuring though was that the other young man was definitely in town, which meant the red-head wasn't wasting his time looking for him in Istanbul. That was always a relief.

With a few more charmingly witty remarks and a thank-you, Lavi was on his way again, taking to the streets, which only seemed busier than ever.

He wondered where to search next. Should he try asking at some of the brothels, first? The ones he'd heard the person of interest had already visited. Or maybe he should stake out one of the ones he supposedly hadn't and just wait for him to show? Of course information was only _so_ reliable and word only traveled so fast. He could just end up staking out a location the white-haired male had already visited, or just didn't plan to visit at all, and they'd miss each other. That would be more than unfortunate.

He paused, both in step and thought process, as he thought he caught a glimpse of something familiar, even though his mind had been distracted. After a moment, he smiled. So it wasn't _the_ white eagle hood he'd been looking for, but it was _a_ white eagle hood, and that was better than nothing.

At first he just tailed them through the crowd, though he wasn't trying very hard – entirely on purpose – to conceal himself and it didn't take long for them to notice him, stepping somewhere off to the side where Lavi followed, making it a point to show that he was friendly, going on to explain himself and who he was looking for, before sending the man on his way.

The Assassin hadn't felt comfortable in showing him where their local headquarters was located, not being familiar with him or his clan enough to fully trust him as an ally yet, but it was easy enough to arrange a rendezvous. He had to give the guy some credit, he was wise not to be so quick to give away their hiding-place, but then the Assassins weren't known for stupidity. You needed to be smart for the kind of job they did, and survive while doing it, not only individually but as a group.

It wasn't any skin off his back though. He was patient, and didn't mind waiting. Not _too_ badly at any rate. Not when the pay-off was worth the wait.

* * *

"Ladies, please!" Allen chuckled nervously as he tried to spin out of the grasp of several giggling women. "I sincerely regret not staying with you longer, but duty calls," he said, flashing them a bright smile, still attempting to pry off their inappropriately grabby hands.

They talked and cooed and flirted with him, trying very hard to seduce him back inside but Allen held his ground, apologizing and promising to come back another time. He really didn't have the time for this.

Dashing though the street, only turning around for a quick wave and another stiff, yet very bright smile to appease the pouty women he was leaving behind, he mentally counted the brothels he still hasn't visited. Allen always wondered what made him keep looking for that man even despite everything he had to go through when he was taken under his wing. Sometimes he told himself it's the guilt, regret even – that he couldn't return his master's kindness-

No, kindness was not the word. Definitely not. But he still took him in.

He slowly came to a stop, taking in a deep breath to calm his racing heart. He ducked into an alley and leaned against a very familiar door, bumping his head a few times to clear his buzzing mind. Hearing the sounds of laughter from inside, Allen smiled to himself.

It was not guilt that made him keep looking for that blasted man. It was curiosity.

He opened the door and stepped in. The onslaught of many different aromas almost made him dizzy but he brushed that off with a few coughs and laughter.

"Just what are you doing here?" he called, slamming the door behind him. The answer came from all the directions at once. The men inside cheered, raising their cups and laughing, prodding him to join them.

"We looted a new kind of tobacco from the Byzantines today! Come and taste the fruits of our mission!" one of the assassins called, gesturing to him to sit down.

Allen smiled and made himself comfortable on the cushions, grabbing the pipe that was being offered to him and took a drag. He's been working all the week, so a little time off won't hurt anyway. After all, it has been a long time since he felt so at home. And it has been a while since he laughed so freely.

After some time, a newly arrived fellow assassin approached and lightly tapped him on the shoulder to gain his attention.

"There's a man in town with reddish hair looking for you. I've never seen him before, but he says he knows you well," he reported quietly. "I had him wait to rendezvous in town."

Allen took a long drag from the pipe.

Could it be him? But it made no sense! It couldn't be his master - he would definitely not send someone to fetch him. A shiver ran down his spine. It isn't him... but then, who else? Who else would look for him in Istanbul now? Red haired, red haired...

"Are you alright, _arkadas_?" the assassin asked, unintentionally attracting some extra attention.

" _Evet_ , don't worry," Allen said, mentally cursing at how uncertain his voice sounded. A single glance at the other man told him that he thought the same.

"I can go with you. If the foreigner turns out to be dangerous I can back you up," the man offered. "It is not like you couldn't handle him, of course..." he stammered, suddenly seeming unsure. Allen chuckled as he took another drag from the pipe.

"It's alright. Thank you for letting me know. Rest now and enjoy the fun. I only need to know where I should be meeting this man." He stood up. Not noticing the frowns his friends exchanged, Allen drowned his cup of coffee and graced them with his best you-have-nothing-to-worry-about smile.

The white-haired male sighed when he exited the den, not willing to let his mind wonder just yet. He sprinted against the opposite wall, jumping up and to the side to catch the edge of the lowest roof, he hauled himself up just in time to see the other assassin sneak out and carefully look around. Of course he wouldn't stay put. It was funny actually – how much they trusted and cared about him, even though they knew what happened to him in Italy. Shaking his head a fighting back a sigh, he broke into a sprint, heading to the rendezvous point.

As always, he took his time to watch around as he ran – taking in the city buzzing with life in this hot and dry land, listening to the sound of various birds and the silent murmur of water running though the city, splitting it into two parts. Everything looked different from up here. Up here he truly became an eagle, bathing in freedom and fresh air.

Allen's daydreaming was cut short as he sighted the tower of his rendezvous point. He sped up and leaped forward through the air, using his hook-blade to catch on to the side of the tower and pull himself up on the nearest ledge.

Glancing behind, he spotted the white hood of his friend in one of the streets and he kept looking long enough until the other assassin met his eye. Giving him a short nod, Allen let go of the ledge.

The white-haired man landed on the ground with a dull thud. The fall sent tingles up his legs but he ignored it, creeping forward and carefully looking around.

The aforementioned red-haired man was nowhere to see and a quick glance at the slightly disturbed face of his informant made his mind scream in alarm. He heard a rustle of fabrics behind him but he didn't turn around in time.

Allen was pounced from behind by an arm hooking him in a loose head/shoulder lock that made him go rigid, the only warning beforehand being a boisterous greeting of, "Hey! 'sprout! Long time, no see, buddy!"

Lavi knew it probably wasn't the wisest idea sneaking up on someone, much less an Assassin armed to the teeth with deadly tools of execution and death, but he couldn't seem to help himself. He got way too much of a kick from getting reactions out of people. If the albino Brit decided to try stabbing his eye out, he resolved he'd just have to dodge it, already prepared to do that. Y'know... just in case.

Allen slowly turned around to face him, his mind still not caught up with what his eyes were seeing or ears were hearing.

"Lavi…" Allen breathed, staring at the face of a man he had not hoped to see again.

Lavi grinned at the pure shock, as if the other was looking upon some mythical thing that shouldn't exist, yet did. Yeah, that was about the look he figured he was probably going for...which was great.

He thought he could detect something else though, a little more unpleasant. A sort of distant, long-forgotten pain.

He supposed that was fully his own fault, though...

No... it wasn't like leaving the way he had had been his first choice, but they had picked up and moved so quickly, there then gone. That was usually how it worked. Normally even a note was too much of a trace to leave behind, but he'd managed it without his old man noticing. It hadn't really explained much, being very vague about where they might be headed, and only really telling Allen that they wouldn't be seeing each other anymore. He hadn't once written another letter since then.

Of course, the customs of his clan were all but entirely unknown to outsiders, being a very secretive lot, so he didn't nor had he expected Allen to fully understand why that was all he'd left, nor the fact that even doing that much was taking a risk that his clan didn't allow.

" 'been ten years, hasn't it? How have ya be- _Oof!_ "

" _Stronzo!_ You miserable human being!" Allen swore as he punched the older man's gut with both his fists. " _Cazzo!_ A note! That was all you left!"

Most might've been at least somewhat mad, but Lavi merely laughed light-heartedly and straightened up with a wincing smile, internally wondering if that was going to leave him a bruise.

"Sorry! Sorry, I just... we picked up and left so last minute, I barely had the time to dress myself, before Gramps kicked me out the door and we took to the road." He knew that was stretching it a bit, but not by much. There were usually a lot of passive mentions about _maybe_ leaving soon and going on to another mission and a new name, but when it finally, actually happened, it was always abrupt and without goodbyes. Bookmen didn't have attachments - they weren't _supposed_ to anyway - so farewells and telling people where they were going didn't matter, since people weren't supposed to matter. "It wasn't like I planned on things being that way, it just sort of... happened."

Allen's glare was unforgiving. With everything that happened between them, with everything they lived through, he still only left a note. No goodbye, no promises – even fakes ones to keep his hopes up. Nothing but a bunch of letters hastily scribbled on a yellowed piece of paper.

Allen shook his head, finally averting his eyes from Lavi's face to hide his feelings.

Lavi nearly yelped as the white-haired man threw himself at the older male, burying his head into Lavi's shoulder and squeezing him as hard as he could, bringing with it a swell of mixed feelings the Bookman knew he wasn't supposed to have. Even amongst Bookmen though, trained since a young age to be detached from everything, there were some people it was impossible not to become endeared to. Allen just happened to be one of those people, at least to Lavi.

"I missed you, you asshole!"

Lavi laughed warmly and hugged him back, the same words - minus the 'asshole' part - twitching at his lips, though they hesitated making themselves known a moment. To say something like that, something so sentimental... that wasn't something he was allowed to do, but he couldn't think of any other way to reply and still maintain his err as a Bookman without coming across as completely callous and insincere. That would hurt Allen too much, and he wasn't willing to do that(again).

"I missed you too, Allen."

He had. He _really_ had, despite how many times he told himself it didn't matter. Despite how much he'd repeated in his head that it was for the best that he'd left, before their relationship could go any deeper, since his lifestyle meant that he could never get as close as his friend deserved. That all the years apart had been _good_ for both of them because he could go back to being the perfect, uninvolved Bookmen apprentice that didn't care about anyone else.

He'd repeated things like that to himself so many times, over and over, until the lies and truth had woven so deeply together that he even had trouble discerning which was which. But he could still taste the lie in there somewhere, never having been able to fully embrace that denial, and never able to completely push Allen from his mind, and more importantly, that little spot in his chest that wasn't supposed to exist.

Allen squeezed harder, holding his breath and biting his tongue.

"Lavi, I..." He stopped himself. He knew he couldn't say that yet. He looked up instead, opting to joke rather than to let slip what was already on the tip of his tongue.

A smile. That is what always worked.

"Is that stubble I'm seeing?" he teased as he eyed, slapping both of the redhead's cheeks.

Lavi laughed as Allen seemed entirely surprised by the reddish peach-fuzz hairs that were sprouting on his jaw-line. It had been a long time since they'd seen each other. Allen had still been a teenager, and Lavi only just barely between that and an adult at the time. Even so, he hadn't changed much. His hair was a bit longer since then, though only a little, and he'd managed to get a nick just bad enough to leave a thin scar near the underside of his jaw.

"Yeah. I try to get rid of the little buggers but they keep coming back," he mused, idly running a hand over his chin. Hair was sometimes such an annoying thing to manage. " 'been thinking about just giving up already, but I don't think the bearded look suits me too well."

"We should move somewhere more private." Allen added suddenly, glancing behind him. Turning around to the very confused-looking assassin, he smiled. "See? I told you. Nothing to worry about." The assassin didn´t seem very assured, but he visibly relaxed. "We should be going back to the den. After all," Allen glanced back at Lavi, "we have some celebrating to do. Come, you need to tell me about your journey."


	2. Old Friends

Allen was confused. He didn't know what he was doing and the only thing he could do now was to turn around and hope that Lavi was just going to follow him. He didn't like these kinds of situations. He felt cornered and small - something he was afraid of. How should he react? What should he do? A person he thought he was never going to see ever again just turned up in the city, casual and goofy as ever, not even realizing what kind of chaos he just made.

Allen forced himself to chill. No stress, no worry. He needed to stay calm. All they needed to do was talk.

Yes. Good food, some fresh tobacco, and a drink and everything will be fine.

He glanced back to see if they were following and for some reason his heart decided to skip a few beats when he saw the redhead behind him.

Why was he suddenly so scared?

Despite that it went unspoken, Lavi could tell by the somewhat stiff way that Allen moved, and a subtle nervousness in the other's glance, that he was uneasy. He supposed that was only natural, though. They hadn't seen each other in a full decade, and his showing up was about as unexpected and impromptu as it had been when he'd left unannounced all those years ago.

He decided not to draw attention to it though, instead trying to lighten the mood with some familiar, teasing banter, laughing aloud casually.

"You've grown since I last saw you," he tossed out there. "No longer that short, scrawny little 'sprout you were back then! But, I-" He paused for dramatic effect, leveling one hand over his own head, then sliding it above Allen's, and the few inches of difference in their height with a mischievous smile. "...am still taller than you."

Allen huffed indignantly at that. Again with the 'shorty' thing.

"You still won't let that slide, eh? _Dios_ , why do you both have to be such assholes!" he blurted out before he could stop himself. Punishing himself with biting his own tongue without looking too guilty, he quickly tried to change the subject. "I mean, err... we're here. Welcome to the Assassin's den," he said as he pushed the door open and walking in.

Lavi couldn't help but laugh. Seemed he wasn't the only one who liked to poke fun at Allen's height, though he couldn't help but wonder who the other 'asshole' was that the man referred to, since it sounded more personal than a simple acquaintance. It didn't really bother him though since he knew that it was more than reasonable for Allen to have developed other relationships in the ten years since they'd last seen each other.

He didn't get the chance to ask, however, as he was escorted inside, and immediately met with stares of curiosity and suspicion. It looked like he'd have his work cut out for him, in regards to earning any sort of favor with them. He merely plastered a friendly smile on his face though, not one to be intimidated easily, and offered a small, sweeping wave of his hand.

The little celebration of the successfully finished mission was still ongoing, however, as soon as Lavi stepped in, a whole bunch of people just turned around and stared at them. Or more specifically - stared at Lavi. Allen mentally cursed as he shot the messenger assassin a dirty look. He really should have seen this. And he felt like half of the den needed a proper scolding for being so obvious.

"How many people have you talked to before you came to me?" Allen growled, overcoming his urge to drag his palm across his face.

"Only a few," the assassin said, shrugging. Another frowny loom from the white haired man made him continue. "You were the one who taught me to be safe rather than sorry, _kardes_."

"Ah come on! It's not like I can't take care of myself!" Allen sighed, marching to each group of assassins, trying to assure them that the new arrival was not a threat at all.

The messenger seemed like he wanted to say something more but he bit his lip tightly and sighed, shifting his eyes back to Lavi.

"You are being watched. Try not to do anything funny."

And with that he left to talk to Allen again, telling him that he will take care of the rest of the assassins.

Lavi's single uncovered eye swept about the room as he followed Allen, taking everything in in an instant. A wood structure with fine rugs and pillows scattered about for seating and lounging, hanging incense canisters that trailed smoke into the air, tables and desks to the further walls that looked like they were probably work stations, and book shelves - he was deeply interested at taking a peak through those books. What sort of knowledge could they contain? What sort of hidden secrets known only amongst the assassin order, and soon enough if he played his cards right, to the hidden vaults of the Bookman clan?

There was also the tinge of something in the air that wasn't incense... was that tobacco? That one gave him the most amount of pause. Did Allen smoke now, or was it just the other guys that did it?

Of course the other male was a fully grown man now, so it wasn't a big deal, but it wasn't one of those things that he would have guessed. Ten years was a long time though. People changed. He knew that he'd changed over the years, so it was a no-brainer that Allen would be somewhat different as well, and he would have to operate on that knowledge, and get to know him as he was now, not merely go off of how he had been before.

"This is a nice place," he whistled as he followed Allen closely, not terribly concerned with the warning of the other Assassin. He certainly wasn't going to try and make any enemies here, but their opinions of him hardly mattered in the end. So long as he had all of his limbs and extremities intact, and nobody tried to kill him, then everything was just fine.

Slumping down in a pile of cushions, Allen finally allowed himself to rub his face with his hands. So much chaos for so little. They were all just being ridiculous... but at least he got the best spoils from time to time. Guess their little overeprotectiveness payed off as well. And it was not like he would be the same in this kind of situation if it involved anyone else anyway.

"Lavi, please stop staring at the books so hungrily," he commented, pointing his finger at a pile of pillows right next to him, implying he should sit down. " I don't want them to catch fire from your eager staring."

"Hey hey hey! I'll have you know that stares alone are not enough to start fires," Lavi quipped when Allen told him to turn his attention somewhere other than their book collection. "-otherwise I'd have been burned to cinders by now with some of the glares you've given me in the time I've known you," he teased, setting his bag aside - which was of quite decent size - next to the spot where he chose to sit amongst a small pile of pillows.

The redhead hadn't change that much. Well, he had… but some things remained the same. Allen couldn't help but smile.

Yes. Some things never change.

Allen took his while to watch his friend's face carefully - taking in the familiar shade of red mane (which was considerably longer than it was ten years ago), the mischievous yet sharp glint in his only eye, as well as the broadness of his chest. He has really grown into a proper man now.

Reaching for his own clean chin as he watched Lavi's little stubble, he pursed his lips. Now he felt a little subconscious about himself. Lavi would surely look good with a beard, in a rugged kind of way but still good. Allen's little bare chin reminded him that not only was his hair white and therefor very easy to miss but also that the lack of hair in certain places was probably not a very normal thing for a 25 year-old-or-so man.

But whatever.

"So Lavi," Allen started as soon as his friend took a seat, "I-" he stopped himself, thinking carefully about what to say. They probably started off on the wrong foot and talking about serious things was probably not a good idea after he lost his temper just a few moments ago. Quickly glancing around and sighing as he spied a number of eyes glaring dagger at the redhead, Allen decided to start their conversation properly this time. "Tell me about your journeys." He smiled, huffing.

He smiled as Allen invited him to start talking about his travels, immediately opening his mouth to begin, but didn't get the chance as Allen suddenly declared, "Wait!", struggling to stand up from the very comfortable pillow pile and dashed to the nearest room.

Lavi just sat and stared at Allen's receding back with mouth still hanging partially agape for a few following seconds. He quietly grumped to himself and shifted to get more comfortable, waiting for the other man to return. When he did, it wasn't with what Lavi was expecting; a hookah, pack of fresh tobacco and a bit of coal, bringing it back only to laugh at the face Lavi was making. The mix of confusion, humor and genuine surprise his friend showed was something he would pay to see again.

Allen sat down huffing out a short laugh and started to prepare the pipe.

"Now you can tell me about your journeys."

Lavi shook off his surprise like water on a dog when Allen prompted him to begin, hoping he wasn't about to be interrupted again.

"Ahaha, where do I even begin...? It's been a busy ten years, I tell ya. I've been all over the map; Portugal, Spain, France, Iran, Pakistan, India, China... all sorts of places, and not just going one direction either. Gramps had us on the move pretty much all the time, hopping from one country to the next chasing information and stuff going on in the world, working on our studies. I think I'm lucky I got any sleep at all, and you know how much I love my sleep. That old man of mine can be a real slave driver when he puts his mind to it."

"Of course." Allen smirked, stuffing the tobacco into the little bowl on the top of the hookah, carefully trying to balance the charcoal on the top of it. "You and your sleep. So, what demons are you hunting this time?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at him and feigning nonchalance.

That was the thing he was wondering about the most. He hadn´t heard any interesting or serious rumors about anything yet, so either Lavi was here for a holiday – which was as probable as the chance that Allen was ever returning to Italy – or something real big was about to happen. Allen had his stakes on the latter because the clan of Bookmen always flocked around big historical events just like vultures did around carcasses.

"Well to be honest, the place I was _most_ interested in exploring and was hoping to go to is that place across the Atlantic that people have been buzzing about on the coast, the Indies. Gramps and I are sure it's a completely new, unexplored land, and ya don't exactly find unexplored islands or an unknown continent every day. 'chance like that only comes around once in a lifetime," he gushed, catching himself before he could spill all his guts on exactly how big of an excitement the very idea was, and how many new things no one had ever even thought might exist before could be found there. New kinds of people, new plants, new animals... Hell, new _everything_. It was like the equivalent to a big old juicy stake hung in front of a starving dog.

"Unfortunately for me and fortunately for you though, I got sidetracked by current events on this side of the world. 'seems as though things have been a bit tense over here between the Byzantines and the Ottoman around here, and then I heard that you were here too, and I couldn't simply pass on by without even saying hello. I figure something worth recording is bound to happen here. Power shifts are pretty much always just powder kegs waiting to blow, and if something happens elsewhere in one of the other nearby countries instead... we-ll... strategically, this is a good place to be positioned to head in whatever direction events take me."

Allen's heart leaped into his mouth. If Lavi "heard he was here too" it was a big chance many others caught his scent.

"O-oh, yeah... what a coincidence. 'didn't think I was that famous."

_Try not to think about it, just don't think about it._ Allen repeated in his mind, chuckling nervously, hoping that he managed to conceal his unease. He should probably keep it low from now on. Lavi went on with his excited chatter and Allen couldn't help but smile affectionately. Still the good old Lavi.

"To be honest, I am not that much into politics - but I have to agree: the Byzantines are rather pushy. Missions are getting more and more complicated with every day. We also have a lot of new guys coming in - many are tired of the Byzantine oppression but it is harder to train them properly. Two of our dens were overrun and taken over by them." He shook his head. "We've been meaning to do something about it but there's only so many of us." Allen said.

Taking along drag from the pipe, Allen offered it to Lavi.

"Here, try it. The best tobacco you've ever tasted. The coffee is also good but I'm afraid we're out. Gonna need to organize another raid for the Byzantines' many food supplies."

"Yeah. 'seems there are a few that heard the 'white demon' was around. Not many... but some people like to talk." Lavi shrugged. "That reputable nickname of yours stuck, 'seems like." He laughed lightly as Allen handed him the pipe. "Funnily enough, you'd think that hardly anyone would know the difference considering the standard assassin color is white."

From the corner of his eye, Allen caught a glimpse of the messenger assassin staring at Lavi from behind a curtain with a deep frown. Giving him a short, confused look, he turned his attention back to Lavi.

"So, where have you left your old man?"

Lavi paused a moment to give the pipe in his hand an uncertain look. He'd smelled tobacco plenty of times, since Bookman liked to smoke, but never actually tasted it. That was a whole new experience on his part. He'd had a few chances, but it had rarely crossed his mind.

" 'last place Gramps and I were in together was India. 'seems the Portuguese have it out for them right now, so he's out there keeping record of what's going on."

He smiled in a smug sort of way, absently fingering the long, silver earrings he was wearing now to replace the rings he'd used to wear.

"I'm no longer just an apprentice, so I'm not required to tag along at his heels anymore. You're looking at a full-fledged Bookman, now!" He couldn't help but boast a little, that being a big deal to him, something he'd trained to be since before he even met Allen. "Of course, I'm not high enough rank that I don't still have to send him the occasional report and keep him updated on my progress, but I'll get there one day, hopefully before that old man finally kills over. I'm pretty sure at this point that there are fossils younger 'an he is!" He laughed aloud at this point. " 'And the best part is, I can finally say that without him trying to bludgeon me over the head for it!"

"Oh! Congratulations are in order then! Finally climbing to the top, eh?" Allen laughed, feeling genuinely happy for Lavi.

Finally promoted. He truly grew up.

A cough interrupted his musing as Lavi finally gave in to trying the tobacco.

"Man, that is some strong stuff!" Lavi choked out. Allen burst out laughing, doubling over and clutching his gut.

"Man, if you could see your face!" The white haired man laughed again, wiping some tears from his eyes. "This is like the mildest, most delicious tobacco ever!" He said sitting up straight again and leaning over. "Look, just… have you ever smoked anything? You need to breathe it in," he said, catching Lavi´s hand with his, turning it so that he could put the pipe into his mouth and breathed in, pausing for a second, "and you breathe it out. Easy! Try it aga-"

Lavi was almost embarrassed to say that, no, he hadn't smoked before. He'd tried plenty of other habits, just not _smoking_. He didn't mind Allen showing him how, but it seemed that lesson was over.

Before Allen had the chance to finish his sentence, the main door of the den slammed open and an assassin stumbled in, clutching his shoulder. It was as if the time stopped and everyone stopped and turned to see what was going on.

"The Byzantines! They are attacking the Bayezid den!"

Allen jumped to his feet in that second, dashing to the seemingly injured man. Lavi turned his head to watch them, not immediately jumping up like Allen, but paying close attention none the less.

" _İyimisin kardesim_? Rest for now, we are going to take care of it. Lavi can you fight?" Allen asked in a serious voice.

Lavi pushed himself to his feet, flipping open the top of his bag to retrieve a multi-sectioned item that he unfolded and snapped together into one long pole-arm with a chain at least a foot long hanging off one end, slinging it over his shoulder. He managed to do it quickly, but at the same time nonchalantly, like he wasn't in any huge hurry.

" 'course I can, and I got time to kill. The exercise will be a good work-out anyway." He nodded to Allen with a thin smile for him to take the lead.


	3. Recklessness

Seeing Lavi's weapon of choice and his relaxed demeanor made Allen a little calmer.

He dashed out after his fellow assassins, heading to the den right away. Speeding up and passing some of his friends, Allen took his while to glance back to see if Lavi was following.

Gesturing to a group of advancing assassins to take the other route, he leaped off the roof to hook his blade on the rope and slide down onto another building. The sky was already darkening, which was good - if they managed to engage the battle without making the enemy aware of them too soon the odds would be very much in their favor.

Lavi was content to let Allen lead and simply play it by ear as things went, which was basically what he, as a Bookman, always did anyway. He was interested to see Allen calling the shots and directing where to go and what to do, more confident than Lavi remembered him being when they'd last parted, a thought which tugged a broader smile to his lips.

Yeah, both of them had definitely grown, in their own way, in more than just physique. Allen was turning into a fine man in his own right, and just as fine an assassin, as he was sure he'd see soon enough.

He wasn't as agile on the rooftops as Allen or many other assassins, but he could hold his own enough to keep up. At least he _thought_ as much until Allen flung himself forward and went zip-lining past several buildings to another rooftop quite some distance ahead.

"Well that's a new trick," he whistled to himself, skidding to a stop and thinking for a moment, since he didn't have a hook-blade of his own to do the same.

He pondered what to do for a few seconds, before an idea struck him and he swung his own weapon around, so that the chain wrapped around it and he could grab the loose end of it by the larger metal ball on the last link. It was a little awkward, but it worked, and without too much delay he was back on his way again, just a few paces more behind than he'd started off at, just in time to see Allen take out a guard like the perfectly honed predator, taking down his prey before they knew he was even approaching.

Gently laying the body on the ground, Allen moved on, taking his stance on the northern roof, just opposite the den entrance, waiting for the others to take their places too.

He caught a glimpse of Lavi's red hair and relaxed somewhat, assuring himself that everything's gonna be alright. At least they were each going see how they'd improved their fighting skills.

Lavi was somewhat winded by the time they'd reached their destination, but there was a short lapse of time for him to regain his breath while various assassins were still taking up tactical positions.

Glancing at all the men readying themselves on the nearby roofs and seeing others creep through the shadow of the streets, Allen added his own nod to let everyone know another man found a target and is ready to fight. He didn't take notice of the messenger from before taking a defensive pose behind him.

An eagle cry echoed throughout the land, deciding that the battle has begun. The assassins leaped down from the roofs - each one taking out a soldier they marked. Twenty more soldiers just lost their lives.

Allen, however, had not the time to ponder about such things because even if their opening move was successful, the fight was not won yet.

Lavi decided to hold off entering the fray for the first few moments as the Assassins leapt down onto their targets on cue, his single eye watching carefully for any enemy soldiers not engaged in battle yet, or one of the assassins that might have managed to draw in too many enemies at once. Clan rules didn't dictate that he couldn't take part in a fight when it became necessary, but his involvement was to be as minimal is humanly possible.

Before long, he spied an assassin that was being tag-teamed from four sides, having known that it was only a matter of time, and he finally moved in.

One of the soldiers tried to strike a sword down the length of the assassin's back while he was busy fending off other attackers from all three other sides, but Lavi was quick to slide his own weapon between them to catch the blade, moving so that he twisted the unsuspecting man's blade and arms back over his head, and sweeping a leg behind his ankle to send him to the ground, flat on his own back. A quick jab to the neck from the spear end was all it took to end him.

A second one he hooked around the throat with the long chain-end, yanking him backwards, earning an audible, strangled noise out of the guy. Lavi ducked down with the pole across his shoulders, rotating it around to the opposite side across his chest with some effort, so that he rolled the flailing man across his back and used the momentum to flip him face-first into the ground, curb-stomping his head down. Whether the man was actually dead or just unconscious, he wasn't sure, but it hardly mattered either way, so long as he was down and out.

The Assassin had no trouble dispatching the remaining two on his own, now that he only had the two to keep focus on, and seemed surprised to find out who his rescuer was, probably having expected a fellow assassin. Neither of them had time to dwell on it though, so Lavi merely gave him a sort of friendly mock-salute and a smile before they both turned back to the fight.

He caught a glimpse of Allen, taking down a few rank-and-file soldiers left and right like it was child's play. Lavi liked to tease the other about his slightly lacking size, but he also knew that in some ways, that was to Allen's advantage. He was still physically strong, but better yet, he was nimble.

A few seconds later, another man's life perished by the White Demon's hand, and a while after that, yet another.

Yeah... he was definitely becoming a fine assassin.

Reassured that he had little to worry about, he turned his attention back to the fight, keen eye looking for where he might be needed most, dispatching a few more guards here or there, but mostly he was just playing back-up, trying to limit the casualties on the Assassin's side and moving through the fight to the more tactically advantageous places.

Allen fought his way towards the far side of the mob of soldiers, slowly nearing the real target he marked - the captain of the Byzantine division and the leader of this attack.

He swore loudly as he watched his fellow assassin being impaled by an enemy soldier but tried to keep his head clear. A dodge to the side away from his sword, a swing of his own hidden blade and the soldier was on the ground, chocking on his own blood.

Allen didn´t take his time to watch the man's life slip away. Instead, he advanced, being joined by another group of assassins which made his way to the captain easier.

The leader was a giant, stout male, wielding a huge and very heavy looking war-hammer as his weapon and a black horny helmet on his head. Allen needed to go for the vital points - his neck or armpits. Judging by the way the man walked and the speed of his swings, he decided to approach the captain from his side just after he takes another swing.

He heard someone call his name but all his senses were already fixated on his prey.

Allen jumped, baring his blades, ready to kill. He didn´t know that his calculations were wrong and the next swing came much sooner than he would like.

* * *

For the most part, Lavi didn't much care for the lives of most in the battle on either side, but he was keeping occasional tabs on Allen, making sure that he didn't need help. He knew that the other was quite capable of handling himself, and so far the battle was going well, but the redhead was _acutely_ aware of just how drastically fights like this could unexpectedly go south, and nothing was more unpredictable than warfare, even on this small a scale.

He saw Allen going for a figure in particular to the fight, one that was heavily armored and armed. One that looked like trouble.

A quick glance around also told him that most of the others were too pre-occupied to be of much help if he was driven into a tight spot, and that definitely worried him.

He was forced to turn back to his own battle for a moment as one soldier stood in his way, Lavi sizing him up carefully. He wanted to make this quick, in case the white-haired male needed help, bouncing loosely on his feet and ready for whatever oncoming blow the soldier would throw at him.

"Come on, just try and hit me with that butter knife, if ya can," he taunted faintly, trying to jibe the man into recklessness. "A flayed fish at market probably has more guts than you."

The guy snarled and lunged at him, Lavi feinting back before he quickly jabbed outward with his spearhead, piercing a scream out of the man as he lost his eye to the sharpened point. Lavi twisted him all the way to the ground before racing along the far side of the fight, dodging around other small, fighting groups.

He saw Allen lunging for the armored figure, the likely leader of the enemy band, but it was not a sight that Lavi wanted to see, picking out the fact that the man was moving more quickly and skillfully than Allen had probably first predicted.

If his adrenaline wasn't pumping before, it _definitely_ was now, the redhead springing toward them as he barked out, "Allen!"

His mind was already racing a mile a minute, trying to calculate the distance and how fast he needed to be, if he could really reach them before a blade found one of his friend's vitals, or if maybe he could manage to get his chain around either the man's arm or his weapon and redirect it somewhere else, until Allen could either move in and finish it or move to safety. That all depended on how fast he could actually _reach_ them though.

Lavi didn't make it, not for lack of trying, but because a small band of soldiers seemed to have noticed him and were determined to block his way. The redhead cursed foully under his breath, but there wasn't much he could do, other than hold his own and hope that Allen could do the same without him.

Of course, Allen could literally do nothing but watch as the giant mountain that was the Byzantine captain suddenly turned around in a completely different manner than he showed just a mere second ago. He knew that the hit he was about to receive was going to hurt a lot but there was basically nothing he could do about it now.

However, when the hit came, it wasn´t as bad as he thought it would be. The fact that it was mighty enough to send him flying against the wall was still a little bit worrying.

Allen couldn't help but to curl himself on the ground for a while, clutching his abdomen and crying out loud as he waited for the pain to subdue a little.

He staggered to his feet, supporting himself on the wall and quickly looked around to locate his target again.

He found the enemy captain kneeling on the ground, holding his hammer in front of him to keep another assassin away from his body, to get some time to recover.

Getting back up on his feet again, the Byzantine growled dangerously, taking a swing at the other man who was the reason Allen was still able to stand up and fight.

"Are you alright?" the man called, only taking a fleeting glance at Allen as he dodged the attack.

"Of course," Allen answered, forcing himself to ignore the pain and straighten up, walking back towards the fighting duo as fast as his fresh wound would let him. He was pretty surprised, though, finding out that his savior was the messenger that came to warn him about Lavi.

Unfortunately, before Allen could reach them, the captain swung his hammer again, but even though he missed at first he managed to surprise them yet again by letting go of the handle with one hand and launching forward to grab the messenger's head. Every alarm suddenly started ringing in Allen's head as he watched his brother-in-arms cry in pain and sink to the dusty ground.

The captain wore an armor that easily doubled his body weight and a hammer that was almost as big as Allen himself and he still managed to move fast enough to surprise him twice. He'd let himself get carried away and had allowed himself to underestimate his opponent, but now was not the time to dwell on it. He would punish himself for that later.

An unpleasant shiver ran down Allen's back when he saw the messenger assassin stagger, momentarily losing his footing as he was shoved backwards. The captain took another illogically fast swing but Allen was faster this time even despite his wounds. The leader needed to be taken care of as fast as possible and it was his own fault the enemy still drew breath.

Before the hammer could hit its target again, Allen managed to kick the handle hard enough to divert the weapon to the side and give his partner the chance to dodge backwards.

He wouldn't make the same mistake again. Making it look like he was going for a sure kill, Allen spun around raising his arm and the captain did the exact thing he wanted him to do - shield his neck. That cost the Byzantine a half of his arm.

Now that the war-hammer was out of his way, the mountain-like soldier howled with pain. All Allen had to do was finish him off. The man, however, surprised him yet _again_ when he unexpectedly surged forward, using his remaining hand to catch his neck with an iron grip.

The bigger man straddled Allen's much smaller body, using all his remaining strength to choke the assassin to death.

Allen won - his blade was buried deep in the captain's neck - but even despite that, the grip on his own neck still didn't loosen up. He had to screw his eyes shut and turn his head because of the blood that was pouring down on his face from the Byzantine's mouth, making it even harder for him to see and breathe.

With a vicious grunt, Allen twisted his blade and kicked the soldier off when the grip on his neck grew slack.

He stood up panting and coughing, spitting out the dead man's blood and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He didn't react when felt a friendly hand on his back helping him to balance on his feet.

"What in the hell was that?!" Allen growled, letting the messenger fuss over him.

"You need to sit down, _kardesim,_ " the man protested when Allen took a step forward, palming a dagger in his belt. "The battle is over. Their captain is dead, look," he said pointing out retreating backs of the Bytantines. " _Aferin_ , my brother. We will take care of the cleaning."

Allen nodded, albeit reluctantly. "I still didn´t catch your name," he said, eyeing the assassin with an uncertain expression.

"Emil," the man answered, his hands hovering over the white-haired lad as he began to walk to the side.

"I am very grateful for your watching my back, Emil. You saved my life today."

The messenger shook his head. "It is my duty, brother."

Allen's brow furrowed. "Huh?"

"He ordered me to watch you before he left." Emil said with a small smile.

The implication hit him like a rock. Emil only laughed at his surprised face as he slung his arm over his shoulder and lead him to the den that was now filled with victorious cries of their comrades and dead bodies of the Byzantine warriors.

A palm suddenly cuffed him over the back of the head, Lavi appearing to give him a critical look that might have been concern.

"Geez, 'sprout, could you be any more reckless?" he admonished, though there was the faintest hint of a tease underlying his chiding. "If y' want to give me a heart attack, find another way to do it!"

Allen batted Lavi's hand away, giving him a mock scowl. His chest felt much lighter knowing his friend escaped the fray more or less without a scratch.

Their way back was more quiet than ever. Emil stubbornly held him in place, pretending not to notice his attempts to walk alone, holding his arm around his shoulders and not letting go.

He had to admit though that the pain was starting to get really unbearable.

Lavi was keeping a careful eye on Allen and his wound the entire way, figuring it was more stubbornness than anything keeping the man on his feet. Allen had always been a stubborn kind of person in some ways, a bit tactless when it came to getting himself injured and taking care of himself properly afterwards. All the same, they did need to get back if he could be of any real help, and he finally decided to go a little ways ahead of them, already knowing how to reach the place with his eidetic memory.

He wasn't too far ahead, setting his weapon aside and rummaging through his large bag, pulling out various items until he'd found what he was looking for, just in time for the other two to arrive.

"I think I have to sit down soon..." Allen groaned, feeling how Emil stiffened next to him.

"Just a little while more and we're there" Emil said, failing in concealing his tension.

Allen chuckled a little more hysterically than he intended, making the man he was leaning on even edgier. Next thing Allen knew he was being laid down in a quiet room.

"Allen! Concentrate!" Emil said sternly as he pushed a bottle of something into his hand. "Drink it slowly." He stressed while he worked on the belts on Allen´s chest and waist.

"Sure." Allen mumbled and downed the bottle filled with alcohol to dull his senses. He scrunched his face at the taste and dropped the bottle on the ground next to him. "This is the worst kind you could give me." He moaned as he felt his abdomen being poked. "That hurt..."

The last thing he recalled was how someone sat him up and stripped his upper half.

It was at that point that Lavi approached, indicating for Emil to move aside. The man still wasn't entirely trusting of him, that much was obvious, but Lavi merely rolled an eye, telling him, "If you want him to get an infection and die of sepsis or tetanus, then go ahead and prevent me from treating the wound. Otherwise, move it." That managed to get Emil to let him get at the wound on Allen's torso, though not without his every move still being watched like a hawk.

What with the recent medical boom in Italy in the last quarter century, Lavi had gotten quite a bit of training on how to treat wounds over the years. It had been the main focus of his studies at the time, which was how he'd been in the area to meet Allen in the first place, and it had paid off on many more than just one occasion. He hadn't exactly been an expert when he'd left, but he knew a lot more than the average person and had been continuing to learn throughout the years during his travels, both through studies in various countries, and trial and error.

He carefully examined and cleaned the wound, trying his best not to undo any clotting that the white-haired male's own body had done to try and slow down blood loss. After he'd managed to make sure the flesh was clear of any visible contaminants, he produced a vial with a strong-smelling liquid to disinfect it. He was somewhat glad that Allen had managed to lose consciousness at this point because he knew first-hand that the stuff burned like wildfire most of the time, though it was still enough to get a pained groan out of him. After that, he applied a milder herbal paste where needed, stitched him up, and wrapped the wound.

"I think he'll be just fine with some rest," Lavi announced in satisfaction. The wound was nothing to sniff at, but he didn't think it would be fatal, provided he managed it properly and didn't get any complications. "-but it's going to take him a while to get back on his feet after that injury. Definitely no roof acrobatics for probably two weeks minimum while the wound seals up, and he's going to need to keep his strength up with food and drink to recover from the blood loss. Give him water, no more alcohol. He needs to stay hydrated so his body can produce more blood properly."

He packed up his medical supplies and stood, stretching to the sky after having finished his work.

"He could be out of it for a few days, but that's fine, so long as his vital signs don't decline. If he complains about pain, give him Quinine, which you should be able to get from a doctor or a trader without too much trouble. Tell me _immediately_ if he starts having bad muscle spasms, especially in the jaw or the face, and make sure he knows to say something about it too when he regains consciousness. If he starts getting lockjaw, that's a bad sign, and fatal if it goes untreated."

Satisfied that he'd done pretty much all he could for now, other than wait for Allen to bounce back and check to make sure he was healing a bit later, he slapped his hands together and rubbed his palms enthusiastically.

"If you need anything else, I'll just be in the other room, picking through some books." Allen's predicament aside, he really wanted to take a look through those things and see if there was any noteworthy information to be gained that he didn't already know. Once he grew tired of that or just ran out of books - he was an insanely fast reader, so it was very much a possibility - he figured he'd poke around a bit and see what other interesting things the assassin den held within its walls. He was sure there would be something worth playing around with. Assassins tended to keep a lot of interesting weapons and tools for their work.


	4. Suspicion

Emil watched the redhead treat the wounds like he has done it all life. He described the possible complications, told him what to get in that and that case and before he could even write it down on a paper or repeat in in his mind, the one-eyed man stood up and marched into the library rubbing his hands together.

Hesitating between staying by Allen's side – which he was ordered to do – and saying his thanks to the still-suspicious man, Emil resolved to get some of the medical stuff from the doctors first and then try to talk to that Lavi guy.

Dashing out of the den as soon as he checked out on the other assassins and asking around what else was needed, he took the shortest way to the bazaar. Thankfully, he got all the things he needed pretty quickly and more or less from one area which made his trip considerably shorter. Not even an hour after he left he was already heading back, his bag full with newly bought medical supplies and fruits.

After everyone got what they wanted, Emil went to check on Allen, finding him still asleep on the bed. Judging that the lad would be alright for a while, he reluctantly made his way to the libraries.

Peaking around the corner he didn´t see what he was looking for. Grumbling under his breath, he went looking further.

After a very long while later, he started to be even more suspicious. The redhead was nowhere to find. But whatever. Emil still took his time to inform some of his friends to keep an eye out for him.

With nothing else to do, he returned to Allen´s room. Checking out his temperature and carefully cleaning his face and body again, folding his clothes and covering his body with a spare sheet, Emil finally plopped down on the pillows next to the bed and waited.

Soon enough he was nodding off, the tiredness from the battle catching up on him.

* * *

Lavi occupied himself at first with scanning through books, mostly at what types they were and how they were organized, to get an idea of what sort of information they contained. There were a lot of things... historical tomes, books with old folk songs from various countries, travel journals, fictitious stories and myths, bestiaries, weapons and armor guides.

He ended up settling for log books that were more immediately relevant to the area, containing important information on Istanbul himself that the Assassins had been keeping track of. History lessons and folk stories could wait. First he needed to familiarize himself with the territory and recent events going on in it.

Whoever their log keeper(s) was, he was going to have to congratulate them on a job well done. These were very thorough records. All of them.

There was quite a wealth of information to be had, everything from casualty count, to guard shift and route schedules, faction finances and spending, weapon and supply count, location of important places, and where different faction territories began and ended as well as how and when they changed from one conflict to the next.

Reading was all well and good, but he figured it was time to hit the field and test some of that information, toting the book along with him. He'd be sure it made it back in-tact and unchanged once he was done, since he knew full well that it was pretty sensitive information. Definitely not something you let get lost, and he didn't foresee too much trouble since he knew how to blend well.

He walked along the roads for a while, making a mental map of the place as he went and every fine detail that might somehow become important later, either to him or his temporary allies, whether the detail be something to benefit from or something to watch out for.

He found out where all of the shops were and who the shopkeepers were, double-checked the accuracy of the guard routes for himself with a vigilant eye, all of the roads(including side alleys and dead ends), and what sort of items seemed available to the general public, versus those that were exclusive to only certain people. He also made it a point to mark where new clothing more regular to the area could be acquired, since that would help him blend better with the locals, but he decided he'd hold off on purchasing anything for now.

He'd made it a point to watch and figure out how the Byzantines that marched the streets operated, some only marching about and doing the bare minimum of what was required of them, but not bothering anyone particular, while others were downright abusive and noticeably threw their weight around.

Lavi managed to scour the closest district before calling it quits and heading back, since there was only so far he could walk at any one time, especially when it was already nightfall. When he got back, Emil was back from wherever he had disappeared to earlier when Lavi first left, sitting by at Allen's bedside, dozing.

Lavi made it a point to return the book to its proper placement before approaching him and planting a hand on his shoulder.

"So, how's he holding up so far?" It had been a few hours after all, and the first day or two was more critical to keeping tabs on his physical condition, just in case complications arose.

Emil startled awake looking wildly around. When he saw the redhead he forced himself to calm down. Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, he answered.

"He seems fine. His temperature seems more or less normal and he also didn´t thrash around or anything. I hope it will stay that way."

Lavi nodded his head in satisfaction when Emil said that Allen seemed to be doing just fine, removing his hand from the man's shoulder and straightening up now. Looking away from the white-haired lad, Emil eyed Lavi instead, giving him a suspicious look.

"And where have you been, if I may ask?" He didn´t really try to sound very polite. Lavi shrugged nonchalantly, pointing a thumb over his shoulder toward the library.

"Reading some stuff... checking out the town... confirming the accuracy of some information. Whoever keeps your guys' record books does a nice job. 'barely needs any updating at all."

He said _barely_ because there were a few things that might have been slight mistakes, or there had simply been some changes that hadn't been written down yet, but it was nothing that needed immediate attention, so he left it at that.

"You don't seem to like me very much," he observed, though there was no accusation in his voice, only matter-of-fact. "More than the rest, anyway. Is he-" he directed to Allen with a flick of his hand. "-something important to you?"

He'd seen the way that Emil dogged Allen and kept a close eye on him, and even more so on Lavi when he was around in wary distrust, ever since he got here, like a faithful watchdog protecting its master. He was curious to what their relation was, though were truth be told he didn't care all that much, merely trying to play the trained part of friendly and approachably open as always.

Emil sighed, breaking the eye contact to stare at Allen.

"Yes and no. It is more complicated than that. All I am allowed to say is that I am ordered to watch out for him in case certain people come to find him." He didn't say that the 'certain people' are currently being taken care of by his teacher. He stood up, looking Lavi in the eye again, frowning. "A man suddenly coming here, looking for him certainly is suspicious." Emil squinted. "You seem like good friends, though, from what I have seen, so I´m going to trust Allen on this. However, don't you go too friendly with him." He left the implication of _'otherwise something bad might happen to you'_ unsaid.

He was supposed to report everything out of order to that man and this was something worth reporting. After all, _he_ wouldn´t be too happy to learn there might be a potential competition. _He_ could sometimes be unreasonably possessive.

Lavi nodded again. It was more complicated than his initial question implied, but still relatively simple. Assassins tended to attract enemies, so Emil's words came as unsurprising.

He listened in silence as the man stood and continued to speak, giving him a warning not to get 'too friendly'. That statement piqued his interest slightly considering it followed up on the statement _you seem like good friends_ , like maybe the man was hinting at something a little more intimate.

True, there had been something like that between them... once, but that was a long time ago. People moved on in that amount of time. He knew that he had, even if it were only out of pure necessity. It had just been youthfully stupid infatuation, and he was over it.

He laughed and visibly waved off the warning.

"You don't have to worry about that. Vagrant lifestyles like mine don't do well for relations of any kind. It's hard enough just keeping basic friends when you move around as sporadically as I do."

"So, why are you even here, mister? You look rather out of place here, even despite your attire." Emil said, looking back at Allen again. "Just like him."

Lavi idly crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his hip to one side casually.

"My being here really ain't all that odd. I'm part of a faction known as Bookmen. It's at least as old, if not more so, than your own group, but we don't deal in killing or any of that stuff. Think of us like... traveling historians. We travel all around the world, gathering information and keeping record of major, historical events and sometimes even strange, isolated anomalies. I'm basically just chasing down the next big thing to happen, whatever that turns out to be. Finding Allen here was just a little side perk to that."

"Bookmen?" Emil asked, half relieved, half interested. This changed many things. Maybe he could use the man to his advantage. His mentor told him few stories about that clan but they have never encountered an actual member. "I have heard about you guys. They say you don't take sides, am I right?"

Lavi nodded his head, noticing Emil relax slightly.

"Yeah, we're mostly a neutral group." He didn't elaborate much beyond that, since he figured that was all that needed to be known. The fact that Emil could be sure Lavi wouldn't be an enemy for that reason seemed enough for him.

Emil perked. If he managed to get some information out of him it could make his mentor's headhunt easier. The redhead probably spent some time everywhere but Rome but it was worth a shot.

"Have you, by any chance, heard any interesting rumors about Rome lately... let's say… about the higher ups amongst the assassins?" Emil knew he was playing with fire now but the information was worth the burning.

A murmur tore him out of his musing. Allen was shifting on the bed, rubbing his face but still not quite lucid.

"Kanda~" He mumbled almost incoherently. "Have you cut your hair?" Emil almost felt like laughing. He wanted to reply, but seeing that the white-haired male lost consciousness again, he resolved only to adjust the sheet he was covered with and wipe the sweat from his brow.

"Sorry." He said, turning back to Lavi. "So, have you?" he repeated, bringing the attention back to his initial question.

"I spent a little time in Rome before," he nodded slowly. "Though it's been quite a number of years, so anything I know might be a bit out of date. Why? Is something happening in Rome?"

He was trying to place exactly why Emil needed that sort of information rather than simply traveling there or writing a letter himself, his mind branching out all the possibilities.

Could some of their leaders gone missing? Perhaps there were events unfolding that had forced them to go dark and lie low, not even contacting their own outside the region. Maybe the way to reach them was blocked by enemies like the Templars and messages were being intercepted. Or perhaps Emil and others had written and not gotten back replies.

Other possibilities crossed his mind. Maybe there was a usurper within their ranks... or there could have been a coup. Or perhaps an enemy spy, or a traitor. Or just a leader who was corrupt.

Lavi couldn't say for sure since he hadn't been kept very up-to-date on happenings in Italy since he left, his studies having been focused elsewhere, but all possibilities seemed valid guesses.

Emil mentally sighed. He should have guessed that not even the Bookmen knew about it. Or he could be bluffing. He glanced back at Allen again, weighing his options.

"No, not right now..." he replied absentmindedly, thinking about how many casualties are happening to certain Italian assassins. "Never mind that. Got some reliable friends in there?" Thinking about it again, it would probably be better if he changed the topic. "You know what? Forget it. So, you were talking about some inaccuracies in our records - tell me more."

He sincerely hoped a change of the topic would make Lavi forget about their initial conversation.

Lavi was trying to think of if he knew whether or not anyone from their clan would be in the area. He didn't think so, and even Bookmen weren't very close to each other so he didn't personally know most of the other clansmen other than his mentor, but he knew how he could arrange something with just a carefully written letter. It seemed Emil had changed his mind, however, adding to Lavi's suspicions that something was up.

But whatever. It didn't matter. Whatever was going on, it was the assassins' business, not his.

He shrugged his shoulders lightly.

"It's just a few minor things here and there, hardly anything worth mentioning, but I'm a stickler for fine details. Some of the soldiers carry a few weapons and tools that aren't listed in the logs, probably pretty recent additions to their equipment, and one of the shops in this district had a different shopkeeper than the one listed. 'probably sold the shop to a new owner or something, but still the same kind of shop. There's bound to be some difference in the exact items that they sell though, so that might be good to investigate sooner rather than later for future reference."

"Oh, well since it´s none of the crucial stuff I guess it doesn´t matter much. You should still talk to the records keeper - a guy with impossibly long beard and a scar on his forehead. He might be a little bit grumpy about it but it´s nothing you couldn´t handle."

Lavi nodded when Emil mentioned who their record keeper was, tucking that information away in his memory for later. He was used to handling grumpy old men. Hell, he'd lived under one for most of his life, so of course he could handle it. That thought tugged a small, fond smile to his lips.

Stretching his body, Emil sat down on the pillow next to Allen again, crossing his legs. He wouldn't move away from the white-haired lad's side even if the Sultan himself would send for him – it's enough that he let him get injured. If Kanda ever heard of it he would have his head.

"Oh, do you have somewhere to sleep?" He asked and judging by the face Lavi made, blinking in question as though it had never even occurred to the redhead, he guessed no. "Well you can either go check out the other dens for free beds, because we're out and I´m not moving away from here, or you can go grab some pillows from downstairs and make yourself comfortable there or up here." He offered, leaning against the wall.

Lavi laughed lightly.

"Nah, that's okay. Bed or not, I'll probably just end up passed out over a good book or something anyway," wherever that happened to be. He'd fallen asleep in more than one position most would consider uncomfortable, but most of the time he was too out of it to notice after working on his studies 'til he dropped. "Anyway, lemme know if anything changes. I should be around here somewhere."

He decided to return to their library and sit down with a couple of books until sleep beckoned his eyelid shut.


	5. Traitor

A week had flown by faster than Emil would have liked. Especially since Allen kept on claiming he was alright – which was not true at all – and the albino's attitude towards him hit the boiling point.

Emil did his best to be nice and considerate, fussing over Allen day and night, but the other man kept his distance with his carefully reserved smile. And it was driving him crazy.

Allen wasn't one to sulk, but this situation was something completely different. Emil – initially just the messenger boy, trailing after him from time to time and helping with the occasional mission – turned out to be a watchdog of the one man he was pissed at the most. Well... right after Cross, of course.

How dare he? _He_ was exactly the same as Lavi. Allen believed they could actually be best friends if they ever met. Leaving God knows where, doing God knows what, not even bothering to send a letter, leaving his little watchdog behind as if Allen needed a babysitter. Oh, how mad that made him.

He knew maybe he was being a little childish but Emil hadn't said anything! Anything at all, until one week ago.

He needed a mission. A quick and easy mission to calm his nerves. His abdomen still hurt a bit- ...no scratch that, it hurt a LOT, but it was not as if he needed to be fondled over it. Others were already on their feet, having fun on raids and messing with the Byzantines and he was stuck in the den, and he still hadn't show Lavi their special weapons!

Gathering his things, fastening his hidden blade and hookblade on his forearms, and adjusting his clothes, he dashed out of his room, catching a glimpse of red hair as he spotted the library. His mind was full set on talking to the one-eyed man and he would have done it if Emil didn't block his way.

"You shouldn't be out of bed yet, _arkadaşı_." Emil said tensely, eyeing him with worry and something Allen could not name.

The white-haired man rolled his eyes. "I'm fine Emil, please move."

"I cannot do that. You should rest."

"I am fine!" Allen repeated, his temper slipping. Why was he being so difficult?! Allen spun around, trying to walk away from the masked man but in vain.

"Tell me what you need, I will get it for you. You still need the doctor to check the wounds." Emil fussed like a mother hen. Allen grumbled under his breath. "I promised to keep an eye on yo-"

"Is this it?" Allen finally snapped, but maybe he sounded brattier than he wanted. But who cared. "This is what he told you? To keep an eye on me?"

"Pardon?" At this point Emil started to stutter, really fearing for his fate.

"Where is he?" Allen asked, his voice filled with authority, leaving Emil no place for dodging the question.

The masked assassin looked down, shifting on his feet. "I cannot say."

"Where. Is. Kanda?" The white-haired lad repeated his question once again, slowly and threateningly. Emil left him no choice. Raising his eyebrow to emphasize the question, he leveled him with another warning look.

"I cannot say." Emil insisted. He hadn't thought saying the truth would backfire this much. Looking around with a silent plea of help as discreetly as he could, he found out that the other assassins were stubbornly keeping their eyes down and some of them were even in the middle of creeping out of the den to avoid Allen's wrath. Traitors.

Allen growled, backing Emil against the wall, drawing himself to his full height - which didn't help him much because he was still shorter than the other.

"I am warning you."

"Italy." Emil mumbled silently, his eyes searching for someone in the den who still hasn't abandoned him. The room suddenly felt unbearably hot.

"Where?"

"Italy," he repeated a little louder this time.

"He's in _Italy_?!" Allen shrieked. His eyes suddenly went wide. "Who else knew about this?!" he yelled after he noticed the Emil's shifty eyes. The few assassins who weren't lucky enough to sneak away froze in their advances and the few who stayed stared everywhere but at the arguing duo. "I cannot believe it! All of you?!"

"Not all of them know what exactly is going on," Emil intervened, trying to calm the furious man down. He was just about to say more when Allen spun around and stormed away. "Brother, wait! Aargh! You guys are not helping at all!" He turned to the few assassins in the main room.

One of them shrugged and plopped a grape into his mouth.

"He left him in your charge. We are only supposed to get rid of the suspicious guys."

* * *

Lavi was a person who adored sleep more than most things in life and tried to find it whenever he could, but even in his deepest snoozing, he was never one to miss things that happened and trained on waking up pretty easily so as to always be ready for something, whatever that was. It had saved his skin on more than one occasion, with some of the places he'd been to and missions he'd been on.

This time it was Allen's yelling that roused him... nothing immediately life-threatening, but certainly interesting. He was awake but decided to play possum for a while, since that sometimes worked to overhear information he couldn't normally get when others actually knew he was listening.

He caught a few vague snippets, but it sounded like they were talking about someone specific. Then he caught what he assumed to be a name again – Kanda – then something about the aforementioned 'Kanda' being in Italy. He supposed that might have explained Emil's interest in Rome, though he didn't have enough pieces to the puzzle to figure out exactly why just yet.

From Emil's plaintive cry, it sounded like Allen had grown fed up and the argument was over.

Time to play peacekeeper.

He lifted the book off his face and set it aside, knowing the page number, and sprang up. A quick glance around told him he would need to re-organize his stack of books into some semblance of order, having sort-of scattered them about... eh, but that could wait.

Sauntering after Allen, not really bothering to care that he still looked a little unkempt from sleep, his headband having fallen around his neck to leave his hair loose, he threw his arms around the white-haired man's shoulders before he could get too far, in a familiar, friendly sort of way.

"Hey, 'sprout! You're up and lookin' better." His single eye watched the other critically for a moment. He could tell the other was still in pain but trying not to show it, but he didn't expect much less. This was Allen, after all. "Still, you should try not to strain yourself too much. I don't want to have to put your insides back where they belong if you re-open anything," he teased with a light prod to his side.

Allen tried not to wince too much as Lavi poked him. He swatted his hand away and glared ahead, taking a deep breath.

"Come on." He said, forcing himself to calm down. "I still didn´t show you some of our special stuff. I know you have been snooping around but I doubt you actually got your hands on our equipment. But I´m not going to get anything from these _traitors_!." Allen said, shouting the last word out loud for everyone in the den to see.

At least they had the decency to look apologetic.

Lavi was hesitant to allow Allen to go around town trying to return to full activity, but the white-haired man had started off in a bad mood before that, and he doubted Allen would listen anyway.

He figured he'd just have to keep an eye on Allen and make sure he didn't tear anything. That was his prime concern since the wound was probably going to leave a scar as it was already, and he didn't think Allen would be patient enough to let it heal again after re-opening it. Rather than draw direct attention to it, Lavi merely tried to divert Allen to some less rigorous activities.

Spending time with Lavi was the best Allen could do that day. They spent all evening throwing bombs near unsuspecting Byzantines, making them look stupid when they tried to look for them.

Lavi knew his old mentor would be scolding him if he could see the two now, lecturing him about how he needed to mature and exercise some self-control, but Hell if it wasn't fun getting reactions out of people and scaring a few unsuspecting soldiers witless. He was surprised they weren't caught with some of the snickering and giggling that passed between him and his friend between their bouts of harassment – and Lavi almost felt bad for some of the guards – but he was well practiced at causing mayhem when he wanted to.

After an hour of playing hide and seek with random patrols, Allen finally decided to gift the red-head with their special weapon - the hook-blade.

Lavi was ecstatic. He had seen and toyed with some of the hidden blades before when he was younger, though not much. It took him a little bit to get used to, but not long, being quite adaptable. Allen decided to indulge him a little bit and challenge him to a race to test him out, though Lavi was hesitant, since Allen was still wounded, but he gave in.

It was a close call, but Allen still won, even despite his wounds, which Lavi would argue to his last, panting breath was simply because he wasn't familiar enough with the territory and that was the _only_ reason Allen managed to one-up him.

That boosted Allen's ego a bit but he still needed to crouch down after it and breathe it through.

Finally, the last thing he wanted to show Lavi: the sunset over the land from the top of the Galata tower, near the main den. The climb was by far the hardest thing Lavi had done that day. Allen made it look _easy_ , even though he was still healing, which ticked him off a little, in a friendly-rivalry sort of way. He was pretty sure he was more out of breath and nerve by the time they reached the top than Allen was, happy to take a seat and look out over the city. He had to admit though, it was a gorgeous view.

When they got to the top, Allen made himself comfortable in the little space they had and took out a piece of paper.

"This is the biggest wonder of this land. The sunset is the most beautiful." He said as he started writing.

Lavi laughed faintly at Allen's commentary as he made himself comfortable, feeling at-ease.

The time had done good for both their moods.

"Yeah. They didn't have views like this when we last saw each other in Italy," he mused, having refrained from bringing it up until now, having figured that Allen deserved at least a few hours of distraction before he started edging into what seemed like touchy waters. "It's nice."

He propped his chin on palm and couldn't help but glance over Allen's shoulder at the paper, curious as to what the other was scribbling down and tactlessly nosy as always.

"So, speaking of which, what's this I've been hearing about Rome and some guy named 'Kanda'?"

Allen's hand froze on the paper. "What about him?" he asked, feigning nonchalance, but his hand still hadn't moved.

Leave it to Lavi to sniff out the touchy subjects. Even the letter he was writing now was just an empty bubble in the sea of his hopes. He kept his promise. He didn't ask where Kanda was going or what he was going to do, but since Emil said he was in Italy, he couldn't help but to feel afraid.

He kind of suspected what he might be doing there. And he was almost entirely sure it had something to do with hoarding several heads.

Lavi was still eyeing him with that calculating look. Could it be that they truly kept all what has happened in Italy secret? Was something like that even possible to keep secret?

Lavi shrugged, though his keen eye was as watchful as ever.

"Nothin' much, I've just been hearing a few snippets here and there. 'sounds like someone you're more close to than the other guys around here." He straightened up where he was sitting and made dog-ears with his hands, trying to keep the mood light as he sort-of poked fun about Emil with his gestures, hoping to earn a smile out of his little joke. "That guard-hound that's keeping an eye on you won't bark, though. He's got tight lips, so I can't get much out of him. Pro'bly cuz he doesn't trust me." After a moment, he dropped his hands to his lap, continuing. "He asked me something about Rome... if I knew anyone over there that had tabs on anything that might be going on, but then he quickly changed the subject before I could get many details."

Allen stared ahead, his mind swimming in memories. Now that he thought about it, it all made sense - why everyone eyed Lavi as if he murdered their mothers.

"Lavi," He started silently, still not meeting his eyes. He had nothing to lose anymore. It was all behind him and Kanda was probably wiping out all the remaining stains that tainted his life. "You know, it's funny." He said humorlessly. "That not even Bookmen heard about such event."

Lavi felt that he'd obviously hit something big – well... not necessarily historically speaking, but it was something big to Allen at least – and was giving his full attention. He prided himself in being a good listener, after all.

He chuckled to himself as Allen made a remark about not even the Bookmen knowing. He wasn't sure how true that statement was, since there were a lot of Bookmen out there somewhere, many of which Lavi had never met, but it was a moot point.

"Well Bookmen are still humans, y'know. We may _appear_ to know everything going on, but there are limits to that," he mused. To some, that might have been frustrating, to know that there was a limitless amount of information to be had, but Lavi welcomed it. Learning new things was exciting, and there was never a shortage of new things to be learned.

"Do you know why I left Italy?" Allen asked, finally meeting the red-head's eye. Lavi shook his head.

"I haven't been in the right parts of the world to keep track of what's been going on there. I know that there's been some political struggle in recent years, but that's hardly anything new." Politics were always an on-going battle no matter where in the world it was taking place, so he hadn't thought much of it up until the last week or so, and internal organization affairs like happenings in the inner ranks of the Assassins were harder to track unless one was present at the time things were happening.

Allen's face remained set in an emotionless mask.

"I was marked as a traitor by the assassin leaders in Italy. I was about to be executed and if it wasn´t for Kanda, the noose around my neck would´ve stayed intact and I would be able to meet you anymore." He took a deep breath and continued. "All because a close friend did a very good job at playing a Templar. But I found out that it was all just a trick – they set it all up just so they had the reason to kill him. He fell for their trap and I couldn´t even do a thing for him. I actually didn´t know what happened to him until my own comrades bound my hands and dragged me to the gallows."

Lavi listened carefully as Allen watched him for his reaction, being mindful not to say anything that might interrupt what the other was telling him. The younger man recounted what happened somewhat vaguely, not going into much detail. That was fine though. No doubt such an event had been traumatic and Allen didn't want to dwell too much on it, and Lavi certainly wouldn't be the one to make him do it.

He was silent for several beats once Allen finished, partially to make sure he was truly finished and not merely gathering up the courage to continue, and partially to formulate how he should best respond.

He knew Allen well, as well as he could for as long as they'd actually been together anyway, even if they had still basically been kids at the time. The white-haired male was a pretty tough guy, but that only went so far. In some ways he could be quite fragile, and the redhead knew he'd have to watch his words carefully on such a painful matter, putting some deep consideration into his reply.

"I'm really sorry that that happened to you, buddy," he empathized as sincerely as he could, understanding why Allen had been surprised he hadn't heard about what happened, but he'd set that aside for later.

He was careful to keep his voice even, but not distant, since he knew that his childhood friend probably needed the moral support more than he'd ever ask for and more validation than most had probably extended to him recently.

"That kind of betrayal really hurts, and it wasn't fair to you. I can only imagine you were pretty terrified when it happened, but I'm glad that you made it out."

He self-consciously licked his lower lip, trying to think. He didn't really consider himself a prime candidate for comfort, since he had trouble truly empathizing with most people on account of his clan's way of life, but for Allen he was trying his damnedest.

He slung an arm over the other's shoulder, giving it a comforting, companionable squeeze. That felt like the right thing to do, given the circumstances.

"If it's any consolation, I know you better than that... that you wouldn't turn traitor. You're a better person than all that, and you're still alive and kicking so that has to count for something, right?"

Allen leaned to the touch, tucking his head in the crook of Lavi´s neck.  
"I sometimes wish I could be more like you," he said quietly, squeezing the paper in his hands. "I don't really care about the things that were happening to me. I regret not being able to save my friend from the fate others decided for him." He took another breath and looked up again, leaning away from Lavi's touch. "I guess you're wondering what brought me here," he mused, his mouth finally curling into a small smile. "They're so different, the assassins here. Kanda brought me here right after he cut the noose off my neck. And the assassins – they don't judge people by what they have heard from rumors. They judge a person themselves. When Kanda brought me here, I couldn't trust anyone. But after a while I found out that he was really saying the truth. Not once have they judged me, not even after they learned about what happened in Italy. And that is what makes me stay here and wait for him to return."

Allen finished, scribbling something on the paper before standing up and smiling, letting the wind play with his hair.

"That is why I can´t send him the letter. Because he promised me a new home and he kept his word. So I will keep mine and wait for him to be done with Italy."

Lavi nodded as he continued to listen, Allen seeming happier as he recounted what the Assassin's more locally were like. It was good that he'd found a safe place to escape to, amongst those of his own group, albeit located elsewhere from the one he'd first been involved with. It sounded like they took care of their own, even from others of the same faction stationed elsewhere. That was a reassuring thought.

Allen looked back at Lavi, but not in a kind way. A sinister grin crept onto his face as he tore the paper into little pieces. Lavi couldn't help but blink and resist a shiver threatening to run up his spine. He knew _that_ look… it was much akin to the ones he got when he talked about what Cross put him through, or when he got way too into his gambling habits – again, because of Cross.

_Just what kind of influence is this Kanda guy, anyway?_

"Do you know what they call him?" Allen asked, throwing the remains of the letter into the air, leaving them to the wind to carry them away. "They call him the _Nightmare_. And Italy's nights are now filled with them."

"You don't say?" Lavi mused in a wondering hum, his eyebrow arched slightly at Allen's demeanor as he talked about Kanda. "So I guess you and he are pretty close friends now or something, then?" It only made sense, since it seemed like they were willing to go to great lengths for each other. Perhaps even something more than friends, though he'd let Allen decide what and how much he wanted to say about it.

Allen momentarily felt his cheeks heat up as he thought back about the things he and Kanda lived through and he was half way to say yes when he remembered what a giant pain in the ass Kanda was (and not in the literal, very pleasurable kind of way).

"Kind of..." he finally said, deciding that reaction was probably the best one. He still fought to fight the heat in his cheeks. "He is sometimes such a giant arsehole that it makes me wonder why I ever decided to help him." He thoughtfully looked up to the sky. "But enough of me. Tell me more about yourself. You always liked to boast about all the wonderful women you met, remember?"

Lavi smirked as he listened to Allen. Sounded like one of those love-hate relationships if he ever heard it. Of course there were times he managed to royally piss Allen off too, though usually with the intent of being playful, so he couldn't exactly lecture anyone in that regard.

He blinked as Allen brought the questions around to him now, laughing as the teen mentioned one of his own quirks for women.

"You still remember that?" He realized Allen was trying to derail the attention away from himself, but the redhead didn't mind at all. He straightened up, folding his arms behind his head to lean against the top spire of the tower. "We-ll... let me think a moment... mostly I've just been traveling around a lot, working on studies... that took up most of my time. Really we barely stayed anywhere more than perhaps a few months at most. I met a couple o' women my type, but of course most weren't all that into me or we didn't know each other all that long," he recounted with a wry little laugh.

He paused a moment thoughtfully.

"There was this one girl I met while we were in China for a few months... she wasn't really my 'type' if you know what I mean, but she was really sweet... and she has one Hell of a kick, even though you'd never guess it. 'kind of on the oversensitive side sometimes, but I think you and her would be definite friends if you ever got to meet her…"

He trailed off slightly as he couldn't help but think that he'd be in real trouble if he ever popped up like he just had with Allen a week earlier. She'd probably kick the crap out of him, way more than Allen's one little punch, before she finally greeted him 'properly', since the sudden leaving was sort of a regular Bookmen habit. He probably made her cry, too...

"Oh, Lavi!" Allen smirked mischievously. "Is that sentiment I hear in your voice? This woman must really be something." He teased, laughing. "I would really love to meet her."

"Hey, it's not like that!" Lavi protested comically. "And even if it was, that brother of hers would kill me! You haven't seen the way that man threatens when he thinks you might be gettin' funny ideas! You don't even want me to have to explain how badly the last guy that had a biblical interest in her ended up!" The thought sent a shiver down his spine.

He looked around, stretching his hands and yawning. The sky was darkening, revealing the many glittering stars as the sun slowly set. "I think it´s time to get back." He muttered.

When Allen declared they should probably be getting back, he stood and stretched skyward, nodding his head. He figured that they might scale back down the side... or perhaps sneak around the inside of the tower back to the bottom. Was this tower even inhabited? It'd make things a lot easier if it wasn't.

Of course, Allen had other plans.

The white-haired man grinned slyly when he spotted the giant stack of hay under the tower.

"Say, Lavi," he started, barely keeping himself from laughing out loud as he climbed on the railing and turned around to face the redhead. The face he was already giving him was worth all his money. "Have you ever heard about a 'leap of faith'?"

"...yeah...I've heard of it..." he began slowly. "-but from this high up? You can't possibly be seri- HEY!" Lavi yelped in panic as Allen fell backward, spreading his arms wide as he burst out laughing.

"This is true freedom, my friend! Last one down has to pay for dinner!"

Feeling like his heart just leapt into his throat, Lavi pounced to the railing and leaned over, half-expecting to see a splatter on the ground below by the time he reached it. Instead, the white-haired man managed to climb out of a haystack looking no worse for wear.

" _Criss_ , Allen! _Mannaggia estouvado stronzo idiota porc kameenay babaca!_ " he swore loudly in multiple languages simultaneously. He took in a few deep breaths. Damn that guy... scaring him shitless like that! And having the nerve to laugh about it too! "If I'm paying for your dinner, then you're paying for my doctors bill... when I have a heart attack! _Cazzo!_ "

Lavi muttered a few more curses under his breath as he eyed the drop, thinking he was better off just climbing down the side. Leaping off something that was...was... oh geez, how high was he exactly? It had to be sixty meters high _at least_. Definitely high enough to snap his back in two if he fell from that height and missed the haystack... which was a very real possibility. Hell, from this high up, he wasn't even sure the hay would be enough to keep him alive.

But Allen had done it, and there was simply _no way_ he was going to be shown up. The other male would never let him live it down if he chickened out!

He took in a shaky breath, rubbing his palms and licking his lower lip nervously. Well at least if he died in the fall he wouldn't have to deal with the embarrassment afterwards, or the old man knocking him over the head for being stupid enough to try such a stunt.

He launch himself forward with a shriek of reckless abandon, far less graceful than Allen had been - how the Hell did anyone fall gracefully from sixty meters above flat, stony death, anyway? - and flailed a bit in mid-air, those few seconds of falling being probably the most terrifying seconds of his entire life. His head was still spinning with adrenaline quite some time after he landed safely in the hay, pretty sure he'd left his heart and head still hanging somewhere up in the clouds, still trying to catch up with him.

Allen was laughing so hard he couldn´t breathe. Seeing Lavi leaning over the railing on the top, opening his mouth like a fish and probably using every language known to human kind to cruse him was definitely the best thing that could happen that day, and seeing him fall down with an unmanly screech was the cherry on top of a cake – or rather the bill he didn´t have to worry about tonight anymore.

He watched the redhead crawl out of the haystack, and if glares could kill, Allen would be surely dead by now.

"Oh, man." Allen chuckled, wiping the tears from his eyes, "-you are the best! How about you keep your promise and pay for my dinner then? I know a perfect place."

" _Vaffanculo!_ " Lavi spat in Allen's direction between short, panicked breaths as he managed to finally find his feet and climb out, trying to dislodge hay from his clothes and disheveled hair. "Go ahead and keep laughing, I'll start cursing at you in Mandarin and Arabic next! Maybe even Swahili! Hell, I'll start swearing at you in so many languages it'll make your head start spinning!"

Allen only grinned, listening to Lavi's barely controlled spluttering and hanging his arm around Lavi´s neck as he led him forward.

He was already imagining Lavi's surprised face when he was about to see where they were going.


	6. "CAN'T ESCAPE"

Lavi stopped his flustered, out-of-breath ranting as he saw where they were going. Allen was right again; the redhead's face was priceless.

When Allen had said he was paying for dinner, a brothel hadn't exactly been what Lavi had in mind, but he was still in too much of a tizzy from the fall to think of a suitable protest before they were snagged by various scantily clad women and pulled inside by inviting arms.

Allen made himself comfortable on the cushion and nodded to a young woman on the opposite of the room. Two other curvy women joined him on each side, pressing against him suggestively.

Huffing out and setting his default charming smile, Allen thought that sometimes he really should just let the women take care of him. He absentmindedly rubbed his abdomen, hoping the pain would go away soon.

The women immediately caught the clue, so the white-haired man could only relax into their gentle touches. Maybe it wasn't all that bad to just not care for once. After all, it wasn't as if he was turning into his master.

Soon enough, the space in front of them was filled with giant bowls filled with all kinds of meat, dumplings, fruits and vegetables and many more things Allen couldn't wait to eat.

The woman on his left felt especially daring when, with the help of the other, she pushed him backwards to lie against the pillows and slowly fed him small pieces of food, telling him what consisted of what.

Lavi wasn't sure at this point whether his mind was still having trouble catching up with him because of his death-defying stunt or the fact that he was watching Allen get completely comfortable with a group of brothel girls milling around him, and soon enough, feeding him.

He had to remind himself that it'd been ten years. Allen was a grown man now, so of course he'd changed in some ways… became more mature.

Allen apparently caught him staring because he shrugged at the other and gave him a wink as a few of the girls milled around him now, making him feel a little too self-conscious, though why, he could only guess to himself. He told himself that his mind was just still reeling after that 'leap of faith' he'd been subjected to. That was only natural after a person leapt from nine freaking stories high!

"Y'know I only agreed-" okay, so he hadn't actually agreed, but he'd admit defeat on it this time. "-to pay for your food. Anything else is out of _your_ pocket," he teased in Allen's direction, trying to get his mind to catch up with him and relax, which he figured was the main point in all of this.

Allen laughed as another piece of smoked meat was offered to him by one of his lovely companions.

"Don't worry. Just pay for the food and everything's gonna be al~right!" he sang, munching onto the meat, making the courtesans giggle.

Allen allowed himself to completely relax into the hands of those two very skilled women, letting one massage his scalp and the muscles of his arms as he lay in her lap, and the other to gently rub the bruises on his abdomen. They knew what things they were allowed and they respected it.

This was why Allen loved to return to this house. Good food, music, tobacco and pleasant women.

"Well I should hope so," Lavi returned, a little bit squeamish as one of the women sidled up to him, giggling and putting her arms around him. "-because I'm bound to go broke as it is with the way you can put down food sometimes!"

"So-" one of the women hummed at him now, drawing Lavi's attention, trailing hands on his top half. "How do you want to be taken care of?"

"T...taken care of?" Lavi almost squeaked. "No, no! I'm good, really! You ladies are nice, I'm just... very particular about my types, y'know?" It wasn't like he'd never been around women before, and certainly not the first or last he had or probably would be around brothel girls, it was just... strange, being around them when _Allen_ of all people was the one to lead him there. Cross must've finally gotten to him or something!

One of the women latching onto him, after Allen's cue - the little devil! Lavi was starting to wonder if the 'demon' nickname came from his Assassin duties after all, or something a little more mischievous - giggled at his discomfort.

"You don't have to be so tense! We don't bite," she laughed as she started putting her hands on his shoulder.

"Hey, you'd be tense too if this guy had just jumped off a tower sixty meters high right in front of you!" Lavi yelped as he pointed an accusing finger at Allen. "Do you know what that does to a poor guy's psyche?" The redhead was trying to ignore the women touching him... up until the point one of them started working on his shoulders, which he went rigid at first until he realized what she was doing, and almost melted under massaging fingers. "Oh no, that's... that's nice."

It was probably the first time in his life Allen saw Lavi kind of unsure around women. Of course, his insecurity vanished as soon as the girls started to pay proper attention to him. Allen laughed out loud as he watched Lavi's interactions.

"Stop whining. And I wasn't the only one who jumped," he replied, waving his hand at the other man to catch the ladies' attention. "This ever handsome and very intelligent friend of mine jumped as well, unwilling to let his friend fall alone," he said theatrically, making the women giggle again and coo over Lavi. "Plus, they bite only if you ask them to." He winked. "Right, ladies?"

"If that's what our customers want," the girls giggled and winked at Lavi suggestively, even as they continued to tend to him more innocently...of which Lavi was intent on making sure it _stayed_ innocent.

The redhead couldn't help but roll his eye at the tag-team banter of both Allen and the girls, shifting to sit more comfortably, folding one leg under the other, which he stretched out loosely in front of him.

"Yeah, okay, you get your laugh this time, but we can't all be that crazy! So I've never dropped that high over solid ground before, but I bet you've never harpooned a live _shark_ in open waters before!"

"Ooh?" That got Allen's attention. "Do tell me more! Sounds like you worked as a fisher more than a Bookman," he teased, gulping down a cup of wine he was offered. Eating a small piece of salmon he was yet again offered by his 'attendant', he rolled onto his side, supporting his chin with his hand. "And one more thing; how came you by such a fancy weapon? I was pretty amazed. We should try sparring sometime."

"No, not a fishermen, but if you want to earn any kind of level respect with seafarers, you gotta do something daring, you know, and there's no richer shark habitat that I've heard of than the Arabic sea," he said, noting in satisfaction that he had more than Allen's attention, but all the women's as well. Traveler's stories always managed to catch interest, and he loved soaking up every bit of the attention whenever he could get it.

"I speared four sharks in the time it took to travel those waters to India… not quite two years ago, actually. Mostly they weren't that big a deal, just moderately sized little things, but once I started to feel a bit bolder, we took on a Great White. Mean buggers, those things! They're _huge_ , three times the length of any full grown man with lots of teeth! And you'd never think it true until you saw it, but those things can _fly_ , right out of the ocean! High enough to land on the deck of a ship!" he recounted theatrically, making dramatic motions like he was acting out the scene with his hands to add to his tale. "So- so anyway, we spear this thing, right? And it takes off, dragging this little boat we're in with it, fast as any ship can sail, before it finally dives down and snaps the rope, disappearing. We're sitting ducks in the middle of the open ocean, scouring, lookin' everywhere for it, waiting for that fin to come popping back up, and it finally appears-" he made jaws with both his hands, open wide then snapping shut. "Right off the side, grabs this one guy's leg, and takes the whole thing off before disappearing again, before we can even throw another harpoon! Blood, _everywhere_!"

He paused as though suddenly considering something he hadn't before and glanced around.

"...none of you ladies are squeamish about blood, are ya?"

One of them scoffed and cuffed him in the chest, looking disbelieving and perhaps mildly insulted.

"We're _women_ , what do you think we do every month?"

Lavi almost flushed and held his hands up in a placating manner, looking like he regretted even asking.

"Okay, you're right, sorry. Stupid question," he said, before launching back into his story without delay.

"Anyway, so this guy loses his entire leg, screaming and holding this little stump where it used to be, and we're trying to get something to keep him from dying right there, you know? And the thing comes back up again and tries to knock our entire boat over into the water so it can eat us! Almost succeeded, too! So these other guys are trying to stop the guy's bleeding while I got up and grabbed the harpoon, the thing swimming back for us a third time, and I lanced it right through the center of the skull, right as it rams into our boat again. Finally killed the _bastardo_."

Not having forgotten the second question, despite his enthralled storytelling of his misadventures with sharks, he took one of the glasses of wine.

"My weapon's a custom that I've had modified quite a lot over the years. It started with just a simple Boar Spear I got off a merchant coming out of Poland to sell his wears, and I've been making changes to it as we traveled around. The handle it started off with got snapped, but the blade was still in-tact and of great quality, so I kept that part of it and modified everything else. 'never been happier with a weapon, though!"

He raised his glass toward Allen in sort of a mock toast before sipping down some of the wine, humming contently.

"This is good wine; Riesling, if I'm not mistaken. So what about you? Got any exciting stories? Now that my blabbering mouth has taken up half the night," he laughed.

"I am impressed! I really want to spar with you now. Gotta see if I can still beat you!"

Allen grinned, intentionally sounding like a never-beaten man to deliver a blow to Lavi´s pride. Lavi gave the other male a slightly dirty look in jest at the quip, even though he knew full well the man was trying to bait such a reaction.

"Your life is much more exciting than mine! White sharks..." Allen mused. "I wish I could see some one day. The last time I was on a ship I spent the whole day hiding in a small, dusty room thanks to my mentally challenged savior." His face twisted into a scowl, remembering how Kanda first rolled him inside a barrel on the ship and then let him rot in that small room all hungry and bruised, only letting him out when he 'was sure no traitors are on board'. Allen secretly knew Kanda had left him there on purpose just to spite him.

But that was a story for another time.

"A story of my own... hmm, let's see…" Allen hummed, rolling onto his back and laying his head in the woman's lap again. "I don´t have any exciting stories really."

His eyes suddenly lit up.

"Actually, there was one time I laughed pretty hard. It was back in Italy, quite some time after I met Kanda," Allen started, sitting up so he could properly converse. "We had an easy mission, really just to kill some time. It was in the Vatican and we were supposed to get a thing from a tower. Everything went smooth until Kanda miraculously slipped and almost fell – and you have to understand," he waggled a finger at Lavi, "Kanda never slips – so, of course it was _my_ fault because I was breathing in a wrong place or something." Allen shrugged, rolling his eyes. "We retrieved the thing, climbed down, and we could have stolen some horses if it wasn't for Kanda's loud and dirty mouth. Some guards noticed us, immediately sounding the alarm, but somehow, we got away. So, here we are standing in the outskirts of Rome next to Tiber river, still arguing but no longer followed, when suddenly, an army of red clad solders march from the gate right next to us."

He threw his hands into the air for the drama.

"If you could see his face then, just freezing in the middle of a sentence with his mouth open, staring behind me..." Allen giggled, recalling the shocked and genuinely panicked expression on Kanda's face. "Of course, I was just as surprised as he was. So, our great escape plan was to silently back into the river hoping that when we surface again they would be gone." Allen shrugged again, smirking. "He looked so damn awful after we got to the bank again, like an ugly, wet cat."

Allen laughed drinking another cup of wine.

"At least we didn´t argue afterwards. We spent the rest of the day in a clearing, drying our clothes and cleaning our weapons." He didn't mention the whole lot of other things they did back then. "It was really funny back then. I wish I could introduce you. I think he would be happy to meet a new friend." The white-haired male grinned, hoping that one day it would come true and he wouldn't have to be alone to face Kanda's wrath.

Lavi silently smirked as he heard Allen recount one of his own little misadventures. He was still trying to get an idea of who this 'Kanda' person was. He tried to search his memory for if he'd heard such a name before, to place a possible location and face to the guy. It sounded like maybe a Thai or an Indian name... Panjab, perhaps? If he was as prickly as Allen described, it would be a fitting name indeed.

Seemed like Allen's preference still swung in the way of Asian guys, a thought that tugged a mischievous smirk to his lips, before he violently shoved that thought to the back of his mind. He really didn't need notions like that making themselves known, not even to himself.

He got a relatively clear mental picture of what Allen was describing, his own smile growing as he listened. He was still trying to picture what this Kanda person looked like, but either way, he knew that whatever his face, what Allen described and he himself pictured were comical.

"Well, maybe we'll get the chance for you to introduce us," Lavi returned once Allen had finished, laughing a little under his breath. "He sounds like he'd be a fun guy to mess with, if nothing else, though _he_ might not appreciate it."

He took another swig of wine, his head buzzing faintly with alcohol and feeling quite content with their food and company, his earlier uneasiness entirely forgotten at this point.

"I gotta admit, you surprised me when you dragged me here, but this is a nice place. I can see why you chose it."

"Yeah, this is a very pleasant place. Actually, Kanda led me here the first day after our arrival. I thought it would be a nice place to relax." Sighing, Allen rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "I'm still thinking about what I should show you, but I can't think of anything."

"It's no stress," Lavi chuckled. "It's not like you even need to worry about showing me anything else at this hour. Save it 'til morning, this is a time for eating, drinking, and de-stressing. Speaking of which-" He cast a glance over his shoulder at the woman massaging his back as he made himself comfortable on his side. "Think you can get that spot a little lower to the right? I got a crick there that- yeah, yeah, right… _there_."

And he melted again, practically purring as he rolled onto his stomach, making a noise that sounded borderline inappropriate as he buried his head between his arms.

" _Mmmm_ , I've been trying to get rid of that ache for _months_ ," he hummed contently, his voice muffled by the crook of his arm, causing another stir of giggles.

Allen sighed contently, nodding. "Yeah, you´re probably right. I mean, you won´t be leaving anytime soon, right? Because that would be a shame."

"Not that I'm yet aware of, no," Lavi replied, though he really couldn't make a solid promise on how long he could stay if something happened elsewhere that he needed to tend to.

Allen turned to look at the women tending to them. "Any new rumors you heard, lovely ladies?"

"No, we haven't heard anything worth mentioning since the last time you were by," they hummed apologetically. "But we'll keep our ears open for anything of interest."

Gesturing to the woman behind him to stop, he sat up, stretching his hands and scratching his neck. "You ladies are wonderful. Never felt better." He smiled, making the women blush. "If the soldiers cause any trouble, you know whom to ask for help." He turned to the purring redhead melting into the floor. "Also, you're paying for your lovely attendants, Lavi," Allen casually informed, inhaling the rest of the food. "I'm gonna settle my part of the bill for now. Thank you ladies," he said as he stood up, gently removing the soft and very pleasing hands from himself. "We can leave whenever you put yourself together."

"Hey, I may be a trouble-maker and a loud-mouth but I'm not stingy!" Lavi rebuked, giving it a couple more minutes before he sat up, stretched languidly, and had a last glass of wine. Yeah, that massage definitely hit the spot.

It had been a wonderful end to his night – and beginning to his morning, he could only guess.

He paid out for his and Allen's food, and a little more than he absolutely had to toward the two fine ladies that had kept him company, since he figured they'd certainly earned it, and threw an arm over Allen's shoulder after giving a grateful parting to the women.

Once the brothel was behind them and it was just the two men in the mostly empty street, he decided it was a good time to bring up something that had been lingering on his mind for a while now, ever since Emil first brought up questions about happenings in Italy.

"Say, Allen, it seems like this thing with Italy and Kanda's bugging you a lot." He was perceptive, so it wasn't hard for him to tell, though Allen didn't do an entirely good job of hiding it, if his earlier yelling at the other Assassins was any indication. "If you want, I might be able to write out a letter for some information on what's going on over there to some of my other clansmen. It will probably take a while to get an answer back, so you might get the information on your own faster than I get a response, and I can't promise exactly what kind of news it'll be, if any at all, but the option to try is always there." He laughed lightly. "And I won't tell anyone else if you don't want me to, in case you're still mad at a certain watch-dog."

Allen's brow furrowed slightly but he kept staring ahead. Squeezing the bridge of his nose with his fingers, he sighed.

"It's okay, really. It is..." He trailed off, sighing, then looked up at the sky. "You know what the whole irony of that is?" He glanced at Lavi with a mirthless smile. "Remember how I said our meeting wasn't entirely accidental?"

Allen forced himself to look away again, hesitating.

"He was the one who was supposed to kill me at first. An assassin hired to kill another one. It didn't work out well for the leaders later. In the end, he didn't kill me, but I still have scars from _that_ particular fight. The thing is, back then, he trusted me. That's why we both survived, and now it's my turn to trust him on this." He looked back at Lavi again, this time smiling properly. "You don't even know how much I want to send a letter, but I can't. I promised." Another heavy sigh escaped his lungs. "But thank you. It is really kind of you to offer this. C'mon, let's get back." Allen grinned, tugging the redhead along.

Lavi nodded his head, figuring that Allen might say that, but he had thrown the offer out there all the same.

"Hey, it's no skin off my back either way, but the offer's always there if you want to take it." He smiled and gave Allen's shoulder a companionable squeeze. "I figure I still sort of owe you at least that much after I sort of ran off on ya unannounced. Just... for however long I'm around, I'm here for you, buddy." More than he ever would be if it had been anyone else, though he'd never admit this part out loud.

"Thank you, Lavi, I appreciate it a lot." He was glad Lavi offered his help. "So, you were a little uneasy around the ladies today." Allen grinned, slinging an arm around Lavi's shoulders. "That was kinda new."

He kept teasing the redhead as they walked.

Lavi was playfully defensive about Allen's tease of how he'd first started off with the ladies, teasing back about how the white-haired man had turned into a real Casanova, going so far as to sarcastically accuse Allen of his master having rubbed off on him. If his old buddy wanted to play that game, he could play back just as hard!

As they were nearing the den, the volume of their laughter steadily rose since they knew that the assassins were usually long awake by this time.

Allen swung the door to the den open, slightly stumbling in, throwing an apologetically sounding ´good morning´.

The scene he saw inside immediately wiped the smile off his face.

The main hall was filled with grim looking assassins with their hoods drawn back, all giving Allen a look he didn't understand. Lavi was immediately aware of the tense atmosphere in the Assassin's den as soon as they entered, dropping the teases and shenanigans in a heartbeat, knowing it wasn't the time or place anymore, whatever had happened.

"What's going on?" The white-haired man asked, feeling Lavi peek from behind him. His heart suddenly leaped into his mouth and his voice sounded like it was not his own. Something very bad has happened. "Guys?"

Emil stepped out of the crowd, bowing his head. "I'm sorry, _kardeşim_."

What was wrong? Did something happen to Kanda? Was he hurt? Or worse, dead?

Panic slowly took hold of Allen's mind and body, making him tremble. Before he could voice the questions that flooded his mind, Emil silenced him as he stepped aside, revealing a body covered with a white bloodied sheet.

"We found him in front of the den a few hours ago," the masked assassin said quietly, looking Allen straight in the eye. He didn't say anything else, making Allen take a tentative step forward, followed by another one and then the next.

Halfway to the body he broke into a run, realizing just whose body it was.

"No!" He choked out, throwing himself to his knees, tears already threatening to spill from his eyes. "Timmy!" He cried, his hands hesitating before carefully taking off the sheet. An anguished cry tore itself out of his throat when he saw what was done to the body.

"Oh, Tim!" He sobbed, carefully cradling his sandy blond head in his arms, trying not to look at the message carved into his small chest.

_´CAN´T ESCAPE´_

It was a warning, just like it was a proof that Kanda had failed his headhunt.


	7. The Demon behind the Mask

Lavi already knew what was coming when he saw the sheet and the blood, though he wasn't sure exactly how big of a deal it was to Allen until he started to break down in grief.

The sight made his chest twist in a way he knew it shouldn't, though it had little to do with the body itself. He'd seen a lot of corpses throughout his life, many far more brutalized than this one, and he'd long ago grown cold to that. Allen's distress, however, was not something he had nor probably ever could harden himself to, no matter how much he tried, though he knew he could hide how much it bothered him perfectly.

He reached a hand out to place on Allen's shoulder, though he didn't expect it would offer much comfort. That was something that was going to take time and struggle.

The redhead was acutely aware of the distrusting looks he was getting and the wary tension that almost came off most of the assassins in waves, but he ignored all of them. So long as no one literally knifed him in the back, he really didn't care what they thought of him.

"So no one saw what happened?" This question was directed at the group as a whole, his mind already working on possibilities, trying to sniff out information. For the most part, there was silence, whether it be that no one had any information to give or they just didn't trust him enough to give it.

Allen held the body, rocking there and forth, trying to control his sobbing. Lavi asked something but his mind was fogged with grief and rage.

Why him? Why little Timmy? He was always such a good boy. Just why? Why?! _WHY?!_

"Did anyone see who did this?" Allen asked, his voice hoarse and filled with hatred and disgust. He didn't even know what the debate was about.

Hearing a few negative murmurs, Allen bristled even more, laying the boy back on the ground and caressing his cold cheek for the last time.

"I want him dead," Allen said, fighting the panic and anger within him. "I want dead whoever is responsible for this."

He couldn´t stay in the room any longer. He needed to get out. He needed to find the monster who did this and take it down. He needed to speak with Kanda...

Lavi was mostly silent at this point, playing it by ear and keeping a hand on Allen's shoulder, in case he needed the contact, even if the man didn't consciously recognize the gesture at the moment.

No one had seen anything happen... no one within the assassins at least, but _someone_ somewhere in town had to have noticed something. Finding that person would be the trick, though. There were a lot of people in Istanbul. Narrowing anyone down wouldn't be easy or immediate.

He was silent as Allen snapped in a strained voice about finding and killing the one responsible, tightening the hand on the white male's shoulder slightly, meeting his eyes.

"Allen, I get that you're furious about this, but I don't think you should go rushing off. I'm not saying forget about going after whoever this person is, but we should stop a minute and think this through carefully." He wasn't sure the other was even in a frame of mind to do so, but he was trying to be the anchor keeping him grounded, especially right now. He figured that he was probably the best to do so right now, since he was really the only unbiased one in the situation presently, unclouded by hurt feelings. "What you give up to your enemy in anger is everything. This was a carefully calculated move, and it would be best to counter it with a clear head."

"You don't understand, Lavi!" Allen snapped, punching the ground. "This was for me! The message is for me! They know I am here! Kanda-" He stopped himself. He must not think this way. Kanda is alive. Alive and alright. He wanted to calm down but he just couldn't.

Despite Allen's words, Lavi liked to think he understood quite clearly, and Allen was just too wound up from what had happened to realize any better. He knew bait when he saw it, and this absolutely reeked of it. Whoever had done it was after Allen, and what better way than to get him riled out of his wits to go charging straight into the deadly spearhead like a rage-blinded boar?

"Lavi, this is my fault!" Allen cried, gesturing to the young boy´s dead body. His chest hurt and his hands were tingling. "His blood is on my hands! _Cazzo!_ " Punching the ground again, the white-haired man swore. He couldn't stay here. He jerked his shoulder away from Lavi's touch and sprang up, running outside.

The redhead growled softly under his breath, running a hand through his hair.

"Stubborn-" he muttered, shaking his head and moving to follow, pausing only to retrieve his pole-arm, just in case he needed it, which was a very real possibility. He knew he couldn't just let Allen go running off alone with his mind muddled by grief when he was already reckless enough on the best of days, though he was sure that at least one of the other assassins wouldn't be far behind, whether they followed openly or sneakily. He was certain at least one of them would simply because he knew that they didn't trust him. From the looks they'd given, some of them might have even suspected the Bookmen himself was somehow involved in it.

He was quick to catch up to Allen, well into the street by the time he managed to match his pace.

"Easy, buddy, just pause a moment to cool your head. Believe me, I get what this is about, but you won't be doing anyone any justice if you go charging into danger, or worse, a trap, and get yourself killed first. We'll figure this out, but we have to do it smartly."

Even now, he was watching their surroundings for an enemy, even the rooftops.

"Not if I kill them first." Allen replied, frowning at Lavi and dodging to the closest alley, jumping on the roof. That was his advantage. He could lose the redhead up here.

He ran as fast as he could, taking out every guard before they could warn the others.

The anger was consuming him. It was unbearable. He noticed that there was no flaming hair following him anymore, which made him for some reason more agitated. Letting out a frustrating yell, he turned around and headed to the one place nobody could touch him.

Once he climbed the Galata tower, the highest tower in the entire city, Allen sat down and buried his face into his hands.

"I'm so sorry, Timmy..." He whispered, immediately calming somewhat as the wind howled around him.

He was so tired.

Once Allen pulled himself together enough to stop sobbing like a small child, his mind became blank.

He couldn't bear to think about all the things that could have happened to Kanda but he also couldn't help but panic. As far as Allen knew, only the higher-ups in Italy knew about him and kept it secret - so, the hunter that mutilated Timmy's body could only be from Rome. That led to two scenarios: either Kanda has been taken prisoner and his jailors have somehow been able to get the information out of him; or someone was clever enough to make themselves reliable enough for Kanda to trust them with his mission.

Problem was, Kanda stands unbeaten in the assassins' ranks and he never trusts anyone. Well… anyone except Allen.

So there was another possibility the White Demon didn't want to acknowledge: there was a traitor in Istanbul.

All these thoughts only made his head spin more. Finally, when he thought everything would be alright, this had to happen. He wouldn't forgive himself for getting the kid killed. Not until he found the hunter and tore his throat to shreds.

Grief would get him nowhere. It was time to act. Time to tear the cheerful mask off his face. It was time to set the White Demon free for real, and hunt the hunter.

* * *

Lavi grit his teeth and tried to make a grab for a piece of the whitette's clothing, but he barely missed, the other man scaling up onto the top of the buildings. He cursed aloud to himself and tried to follow, but Allen was already well ahead of him and had the advantage in that regard, especially since he knew the territory a lot better. He was sure the younger male probably knew all the best spots to gain distance without being immediately seen too, and the rooftops were staggered, which made it all the more troublesome keeping the other within his sights.

He allowed himself to get frustrated for just a moment before pushing it to the side. He needed to take his own advice, and think it through. Just where the Hell would Allen go?

_Good question,_ he couldn't help but lament. If this were Florence or Rome, he could probably keep up and find Allen in no time, but he still didn't know Istanbul well enough to do the same here. The problem with Allen was that he could be a really shitty navigator even under the best circumstances. Tracking him once he managed to make someone lose his trail was the biggest pain in the ass because half the time even _he_ didn't know where the Hell he was. It was really hard to get inside the head of a guy who had gotten _himself_ lost so often.

Of course, a trail of Byzantine guard bodies was a start... Lavi didn't have to think hard to guess whose handiwork that might have been at the moment. That only lasted so long though as the trail abruptly ended. The Bookman wasn't sure if that had been deliberate or Allen had merely lost steam.

"Damn it, Allen. Just where the Hell did you go?" Half of his bet was riding on that the other man probably didn't know either. But if he _were_ to go somewhere specific, where would that be? Lavi's eye scanned the surrounding city, then it hit him. If he'd stopped on his little hunt, he'd probably go somewhere well secluded and easy for him to find, and the easiest place to find amongst all the other structures this side of the water was the Galata tower(which he was not looking forward to climbing again).

He huffed and started in that direction, thinking to himself that Allen better _damn well_ be there when he reached it.

* * *

If Allen hadn't been at the top of this tower, Lavi would have been thoroughly pissed off because this was really the _last_ place he wanted to be at the moment. Why couldn't he have chosen some place a little more accessible and a little easier to get down from?! One that didn't involve such a steep drop.

"If you go taking off on me like that again right now, I can guarantee you I'm going to kick your ass very, very hard," Lavi panted as he finally managed to heave himself onto the top of the tower and find his feet. Or at least while he stood leaning with his palms on his knees, trying to regain himself fully.

He was watching Allen carefully, picking out minute details. He looked like he'd been crying before Lavi had managed to show up, though that wasn't really surprising. Anxiety, probably because of the fact that they had no idea who the killer was. There was something else that made Lavi decidedly wary though. Something more malevolent.

"-and I mean it, too," he continued, having managed to recover relatively quickly. "Don't even _think_ of ditching me again."

"Lavi!" Allen suddenly said, not even listening to what the redhead was moaning about after he climbed up. "I need your help." He took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. "I need you to send a letter to Kanda. I need to know if he's alright." Allen looked at Lavi with hopeful expression, hoping that he didn´t too desperate.

He knew they made a promise, but this was more important than that. He wouldn´t be able to sleep until he knew Kanda was still alive and kicking - even despite his partner's reputation. The next step was easy - find out how many Italian ships docked in the city during the past two or three weeks.

Lavi wasn't terribly surprised by the request and nodded his head, eyeing the other male, though he was of the mind to tell the other that when he said he could write a letter it probably wasn't exactly what he was expecting it to be. He thought that maybe the white-haired man was at least listening to him now, but that was quickly proven wrong too as the man turned and leapt off the tower.

"Come," Allen said, gripping Lavi's shoulders and spinning him around, and completely dismissing the look the redhead was giving him, "we need to hurry!" That was the last thing he said before he himself spun around and jumped down from the tower, leaving Lavi alone again.

Lavi clenched his jaw and almost couldn't hold back a groan of displeasure, eyeing the drop. Okay... no big deal... just _one, two, three, go, right?_ After all, he'd done it before just fine, so...

He didn't have time to dwell on it, leaping off to follow and climbing out as quickly as he could, shaking hay off of him.

He moved to follow Allen, who was quickly taking up distance toward the docks, but Lavi was intent on not letting him get ahead this time. He snagged the other man by the back of his hood and pulled him aside towards an uninhabited alleyway with swift deliberation, not wanting to give Allen the chance to dislodge himself and truly ditch the other a second time in his frantic haste.

As soon as he was satisfied they were a fair enough distance away, he pinned Allen firmly against a wall with his body and an elbow to his throat, all the while sincerely hoping he wasn't going to end up with a hidden blade in his skull, though it wasn't Allen he was worried about. He was quickly growing frustrated, which was not something he did often, if ever, but Allen was managing to grate on his last nerve. That was an accomplishment in and of itself, and not in a good way.

"You need to stop and just _chill_ for a moment, before I throw that hot head of yours down the nearest well until it cools off," he hissed. If Allen wasn't going to sit still and listen to him, then he was just going to have to keep him here until he did.

To say Allen was surprised was an understatement because what Lavi did surprised him more than he would have liked. The redhead probably didn't realize he was only one hair away from death - more or less unintentionally.

Allen stared at Lavi with dead stillness but with his eyes wide open - not because the latter took him by surprise, but because of the realization, and partially amazement, that he could have killed his friend without thinking.

He waited a second for the redhead to get still, feeling his breath against his face and his body pressed against him.

"Lavi," he said with a slightly wavering, but still warning enough, voice. "…take a step back and think about how reckless you've just been." Allen didn't even know how much his hand trembled until he carefully pressed his already drawn hidden blade against the redhead's abdomen to emphasize his words.

Did Lavi even realize how he'd scared him?

Lavi could feel the point of the blade against him faintly but didn't budge. He was certain Allen wouldn't-

No. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind. He really didn't know if Allen would or not. Neither of them were the same kids they used to be. Even if they'd only changed so much, it was still enough, and he still didn't completely know who Allen was _now_ , and even if Allen never would under normal circumstances, he wasn't thinking right. The recent death was still too raw for him to be thinking right, because the idiot just _wouldn't_ sit down and let himself grieve properly first.

But he still didn't budge.

"I'm not moving," he told Allen straightly, his voice level but still holding an err of authority to it. He knew the risks, but he wasn't intimidated, least of all by Allen of all people, even if perhaps he should have been. "And neither are you, until you listen to me. Even if you stab me, I'm not letting you go. Not until you slow down for one fucking second and actually hear me out, instead of blowing me off and charging off on your own. This is serious."

"Lavi," Allen whispered, this time a little more pleadingly. "You should…" he said very slowly, still in whisper as he looked carefully up and to the side, hoping that the assassins would point their guns elsewhere.

The redhead's way of calming him down was working somehow. Only now Allen was realizing that he had never once been alone after he left the den, and Lavi was more suspicious than ever. He hoped his friend would get the clue and back off before he would get seriously harmed.

However, he would listen. If that was what would make Lavi cooperate, he would listen to what the other has to say.

Unlike Allen, Lavi had been aware from the start that they were probably being followed. He didn't exactly have favor with the other assassins to begin with, and the circumstances and too-recent death were only going to escalate suspicions, but he was still operating with that knowledge. He didn't think Allen would try to kill him, even if he had hurt the other man when he left years ago, but he knew that the others in his group held no such reservations towards him. Even so, he knew what he was doing, all of it calculated, though he didn't give any direct hint that he knew they were being watched or that there were assassins ready to take him out at the slightest provocation.

"I told you, I'm not letting you go until I've finished what I have to say," he said, making it a point to say it loud enough that the white-haired male's hidden comrades could hear every word, without making it too obvious that was what he intended. He'd just let them assume it was only anger that had his voice raised.

"You're acting like a real idiot, you know that? And you may _think_ that you're thinking clearly, but you're not. I know you better than that. This damn reckless martyr complex of yours is going to end up getting you killed before long, and I know you barely care at all about if that happens to you, but it's going to get others hurt and killed when there's no need for them to be, and I'm not talking about your enemies here. You need to slow down and do things right and do them carefully, before all of it blows up in your face and the faces of everyone around you, and eventually it _will_."

"But it already did, didn't it." A pained smile appeared on his face. "Do you know how many have fallen in Rome? How many tried to protect me when the headhunt was called?" Allen asked, sheathing his blades and gripping Lavi's shirt with his still-trembling hands. "I had students, you know? They were all killed. I watched them all die. Now Tim is dead and it is because of me! Don´t you understand? I have to do it - this time for sure. It has to end! Why is everyone just so damn persistent at following me?" The last sentence was directed more to the following assassins than to Lavi himself.

Allen drew a shaky breath to calm himself, which didn't work at all.

"Everyone who so much as greeted me is a potential target! Imagine what a fine prey it makes you! What do you think I feel about that, huh?!" He was already shouting at this point but he didn't care.

Why did nobody understand? It wasn´t about being careful. Whoever arrived to Istanbul was good enough to get around Kanda - that fact itself scared Allen to no end.

"The fire I'm playing with will only burn myself. Remember? They are going after me. If I burn, they will burn with me. Just let me do this. After you write the letter, I will wait - I promise!" He quickly added. "If I get a reply, I will wait..."

And if the reply didn't come...

Allen gently tried to pry the arm away from his neck. "Please, Lavi," the white-haired man begged, his voice hoarse. "Just do as I say and stand aside!" this time only so the redhead could hear him. "I don't want to put you in any more danger..."

Lavi let Allen have his say without interruption, but he still didn't loosen up. He didn't doubt that the man would go tearing off again on a blind hunt as soon as he did.

"You're an Assassin, Allen. It's practically within your job description to make enemies," he stated matter-of-factly once the other had finished. "You think you're the first one this has ever happened to? You think you'll be the last one to bear that kind of burden? People are going to die and get killed no matter what you do. I'm sure that before this is over, more probably will, because I highly doubt that those other friends of yours are going to simply let you do this entirely on your own despite your best efforts to make it only your own problem, but the _least_ you can do for yourself and for them is limit it to as few as possible, and you can start by using that damn head of yours properly. Running around town, blindly beating up every potential enemy in your path and making a raucous isn't the way to do that."

He took a breath, trying to steady his nerves. He didn't like seeing Allen worked up like this, much less when he started going with all that self-sacrificing garbage of his. It was frustrating and damn near impossible to talk the other out of once he started.

"What exactly did going off killing a string of Byzantine soldiers in your rage accomplish, exactly? Other than create more enemies you can't afford to make right now, and draw in unneccesary attention that's going to make it that much harder not just for you, but every other assassin in your order? Are you going to just keep going around, beating up and killing everyone you think you have to until there's no one left you think might have answers, or worse yet, find an arrow or a bullet in your back? Like I said, you're being a damn, reckless idiot. You can't protect absolutely everything to keep from losing anything. It's harsh, but that's reality. Tim died because you weren't prepared for it to happen, and that's not your fault, but you can keep it from happening to anyone else if you actually use some sense and work out a solid plan of defense. One that actually equips everyone to be prepared, not some selfish idea that sacrificing yourself is going to magically spare everyone else around you. Whether you like it or not, this is basically war, and you're going to lose some battles. At least make those losses worth something."

"It is a war. It has always been." Allen admitted silently, giving a signal to his fellow assassins to get down and help him behind Lavi´s back, masking it for going for an insisting squeeze. "But for the Byzantines, I am only another assassin they were unlucky enough to meet. They wage their war for this country and nothing else." Allen bowed his head in apology. "I am sorry, Lavi. I really am," he murmured as the assassins grabbed the redhead's arms and dragged him backwards, freeing Allen from his grip.

The white-haired man stepped back from the wall, nodding to Emil who held Lavi in place with a hand on his shoulder and a knife to his neck.

"I wish I could tell you, Lavi, but this is a war I _can_ fight on my own. One day you´ll understand." He turned away and before he climbed onto the roof, he added, "send that letter for me, would you? I promise to sit back until I get a reply."

And with that, he dashed away, heading to the docks.

" _Bái mù_ ," Lavi cursed under his breath as he watched Allen disappear, frowning. In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have expected much better. Allen was about as stubborn as they came. There wasn't any talking him out of something once he'd made up his mind, not even for someone as smooth a talker as he was, and Lavi wasn't sure why he even bothered.

So maybe he'd helped him calm down a little bit... so it might not have been a complete waste, but he wasn't really sure about that. Allen was good at faking that he was okay. Sometimes the times he smiled were the times to be the most worried.

_It's your job not to get wrapped up in his world, though,_ he reminded himself bitterly. _You're an observer here. Nothing more. Don't get drawn in to things that have nothing to do with you._

He huffed and pushed Emil's armed hand away at the same moment he pulled his shoulder out of the man's grip, taking a few steps to distance himself and propping his weapon up on his shoulder, but not bothering to go after Allen this time. It wasn't his business. This was the Assassin's problem, and he wasn't an assassin, despite that it was still bothering him.

"Not that I probably need to tell you, but you should watch him and make sure he doesn't do anything dumb or careless." Mostly it was the thought that Allen might actually find something that bothered him, because despite the man's promises, he wasn't sure Allen would be able to resist chasing it if he did. He grumbled something incoherent and rubbed the top of his head, staring back at the main street in contemplation and partial disregard, before stuffing one hand into his pocket. "I'm obviously not wanted, so I'll be heading back."

Emil retracted his hand but did not stop watching Lavi like a hawk.

"Wait!" he said, maybe a little bit more harshly than he intended. He heaved a heavy sigh and hid his weapons, holding up hands in surrender, not minding the fact that the other assassins on the nearby roof still held their weapons ready to strike. "What he said was true. He is probably the only one who can take that war onto his shoulder - and we both know he will. There are some... rumors about him that many know but only few voice out loud. So, for the sake of preventing Allen to make something stupid I offer peace," he said finally, stretching his hand out for a shake.

Lavi stopped and turned to face Emil, still aware that he was being watched by more than just the one assassin. They really distrusted him quite a lot, didn't they? He didn't return the handshake, though he showed no hostility either, only disinterest. He wasn't here to make friends, he just wasn't here to make enemies either.

He audibly sighed and turned his single eye skyward.

"No matter how skilled or reputed Allen might be, he's still only one guy. Still just as human and mortal as everyone else. The same goes for this Kanda person you're both set on trusting. No matter what any storybook or historical text might tell you, there are no solitary heroes that can do it all on their own. They all had help to accomplish the things they did, even if history forgot those other people. No offense meant, but trust me, I probably know that better than almost anyone else in this entire city. As for making peace, you can save it. Like you said, Bookmen don't take sides. I'm already neutral, and that's where I'm going to stay," he stated, even though part of his mind knew better, at least where Allen was concerned.

He would never not have Allen's side, but he would never admit that he did either - to admit that was to go against his loyalties to his clan - and even then, he would only get involved so far before he backed off. He knew where the limits were, and he sometimes pushed them, but he would never cross them.

Emil let his hand fall to his side with a barely concealed eye roll and a spike of irritation. Gee, he could at least _pretend_. He had no problem to do that with Allen, after all...

"Well, Kanda is a whole different story anyway..." He murmured, more to himself than to the redhead. Kanda might not be known across the continent, but here, he was like their own deity - a solid pillar that never crumbled. Always successful; always deadly.

Emil had to control the smirk that was threatening to appear on his face because even thinking about how Lavi will end up when Kanda sees him being all buddy-buddy with Allen made him shiver. Kanda was not a man that liked to share.

"Are you going to write that letter?" The masked assassin inquired, looking to the direction where Allen left.

Lavi nodded his head. He figured it couldn't be something that Allen wanted to keep as a terribly huge secret if he had talked about it in front of the others so directly.

"I told him that I would, if he wanted. I sort of owe him anyway, so it's just repaying a debt." That was one way to put it anyway, keeping it brief. He had a lot of things buzzing in his mind. Some of them were bridges he would have to cross later, though, whiles others were more immediate. First off on that list for now was the letter, though he'd have to make some special arrangements for it.

He wondered if Emil intended on anything, like making sure his message never reached its destination. He didn't know if the man was the type to do that, but he wouldn't put it past him either. He'd have to be careful about that.

"So was there anything else specific that you wanted?"

"Yeah, kind of," he said, tilting his head. "A little advice, you could say. To get you in my mentor's good side, because trust me when I say, you want to be there when he gets back."

Emil studied Lavi's face for a moment before he continued. "Keep the message as short as possible, which means: write only what Allen asked you to - I guess it was something as asking if he was alright and informing him that someone got past him. There's nothing else that needs to be in that letter. Don't send the letter until Allen gives you his pendant." He finished, taking a deep breath. "If you need anything just ask around the den. I'll send my friend back to inform the others. After all, we don't want you to get killed anytime soon. That would be very..." Emil searched for the right word for a while, "inconvenient."

He didn´t want it to sound as a threat but he couldn't help himself. They would cooperate for Allen sake but Emil still minded how close the redhead was to him - even if it looked like friendship and nothing more.

"I am going to get Allen back before he scares the dock records keeper to death." He waved his hand and whistled at an assassin standing on the roof, jerking his head towards the redhead. "The boys will leave you be." The _´but we´re still watching you´_ was left unsaid.

With that, Emil turned around and dashed to the docks.

Lavi nodded his head as he listened to what Emil had to tell him. He thought about bringing up the fact that what he intended wasn't necessarily what either him or Allen had in mind, but he held off. He could always talk to Allen about it later, once he was back.

The bit about him potentially getting killed wasn't really all that surprising. Lavi was already thinking he was going to need to watch himself a bit more if he didn't want to end up with a blade to his back... or _in_ his back. He didn't necessarily think it was anything personal, mostly a 'just in case' scenario. That might have been worse, though.

Emil ran off before he could ask for a specific city, but an educated guess based on the man's questions a week earlier told him that Rome was probably the prime location.

He headed back to the den on his own and packed his weapon away, retrieving a few things from his bag: some paper, a quill, some vials of ink, and a wood slab to use as a surface to write on. He hunkered down comfortably amongst a few pillows in the corner of the den's main room, though at first he did nothing, only stared at the paper in deep thought, calculation in his single eye.

Uncapping one of the vials of ink he'd retrieved, he finally started to work, making slow, careful, deliberate lines that weren't letters, but looked more like elaborate, artistic scroll-work, and started toward the center rather than any one corner of the page like standard writing.

Lavi was glad to be able to work undisturbed for a number of hours since the letter he was working on - which would simply look like a very detailed piece of artwork to anyone else if they were to peak at it - was taking all of his concentration and quite a number of hours to create properly.

There were various symbols throughout it that someone who was incredibly perceptive and educated might be able to spot, but not decipher, since it wasn't written in any known language throughout the world, but it was a guarantee that even those sorts of people would have trouble.

Hell, Lavi was having trouble, and he was the one who wrote the damn thing! Enough hours of staring at it, even knowing each carefully placed symbol or 'letter' and what every single one was supposed to mean, was starting to give him a headache, rubbing his temple with one hand to massage the ache away.

He glanced up as Emil and Allen returned, shooting them a cordial greeting. He had almost forgotten about them entirely, having been fully absorbed in his work.

"Hey~! Finally back. So how'd your hunt go?"

* * *

Allen would say he was very calm when he came to interrogate the record keeper in the docks. Emil, for some mysterious reason, disagreed. He managed to find him in the middle of his 'asking questions' and 'helped' him out later. Even though holding him back wasn't really 'helping out'.

In the end, the keeper was very cooperative and that was all that mattered.

He went through every single file that held the ship arrivals and passenger names he could get his hands on, not caring that the probability of someone arriving three months ago could be the hunter.

One could never be too careful.

After four hours of searching for names that would at least distantly ring a bell, he finally lost his nerves and slammed his fist against the table which left the piece of furniture cracked and his arm hurting. As if the constant burning of his abdomen wasn't enough.

Emil silently watched him, not daring to voice what they both already knew.

"There's nothing." Allen said, gripping the edge of the table. "I can't recognize a single name and it isn't as if they could afford to send someone new. It doesn´t make any sense!"

"Allen, you need to calm down," Emil tried to placate him, only in vain.

"How can I be calm?!" The white-haired man cried, cutting himself off before his temper could get any more out of hand.

Emil sighed and squeezed his shoulder.

"We should get back. Your friend promised to write the letter. You know we can't send it without this," he said, touching the pendant on Allen's chest.

"I can't..."

"Yes, you can and you will. This will get you nowhere and you know it. Be reasonable. Let me treat your wounds and get some rest. I told the men to ask around the city for some rumors. And don't worry, they will be fine." He quickly added the last part upon seeing the disbelief that quickly turned into betrayal on Allen's face.

They headed back and were immediately greeted by Lavi… to which Allen immediately groaned and turned around, heading straight to his room and collapsing as soon as he got near enough to do so.

Emil, on the other hand, shrugged, and walked up to him, talking a quick look at his work. It looked like some of the most intricately detailed patterns he'd ever seen, even more than those of their fine rugs.

"What is that?" He asked, genuinely interested.

"It's a letter, of sorts," Lavi replied, sitting up and stretching his arms above his head. "Highly encrypted for Bookmen eyes only. No one else in the world can crack it, not even people in your own group with those special eyes of theirs." He laughed faintly. "But of course, that also means we won't have to worry about a thing if it doesn't make it to its proper place, other than not getting a response, if you know what I'm saying."

Emil didn't say that the possibility of not getting a replay would probably be worse than getting a fake one. He still believed his mentor was alive and kicking and there was nothing in the world that would make him think otherwise.

"Well anyways, here," he said, carefully putting Allen's pendant on the table next to the drawing. "When you're finished with the letter, just wrap it around it or put it in the envelope." Hearing some thumping from above, Emil sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I guess I should make sure he's fine and stays for the night. If you need something, just tell me."

"Hold on a moment," Lavi said, leaning over to grab his bag and rummage through it, and tossing Emil a small package of medicine. "Here. Quinine. I doubt he'll admit it, but Allen's probably still in pain from that battle wound he got."

Emil smiled and sighed.

"Of course he is." He said fondly. "He's more agitated than ever and it's not only because of what happened to little Timmy." He sighed again. "I appreciate it. Allen does too but he's still too angry with you to say it. I'm going to try to put him to bed now. Good luck finishing your message - if it's not ready yet."

Lavi nodded his head in understanding. He wasn't really finished yet, but he figured he'd set it aside until morning and get some rest himself, before staring at it any longer made his headache progress to a full-on migraine.

"Well, likewise if you need anything else, I'll still be around. If I'm asleep, feel free to wake me. It shouldn't be hard," he said with a stifled yawn.


	8. The Plan

Allen woke up the next morning feeling better than he would've expected. The reason would probably be the lack of ache in his abdomen. Carefully stretching on his bed to the point where he let out a pleased squeal, he turned around only to nearly spit out his own heart, finding Emil sitting by his bed on an oval pillow with his arms crossed over his chest and a displeased frown on his face.

"I am never, ever keeping an eye on you during the night again." Emil grumbled, rubbing his tired eyes.

Allen arched an eyebrow at him in confusion. Kanda's student only shook his head and patted Allen's affectionately, which only made the white-haired man more befuddled.

"Never mind," he murmured as the displeasure vanished from his face. He stood up. "I'm going to sleep now. Your redhead friend should be writing that letter somewhere. Go look for him if you want."

Emil left with a final look back at the other man, not really wanting to ponder upon what nightmares he was dreaming about. Judging by the confused look Allen gave him, he guessed he already forgot.

Allen shrugged and washed up, going through his morning routine of more stretching and dressing himself, then went looking for Lavi.

He didn't really need to go far. The bookman was in the library, and Allen couldn't help but chuckle at the way he slept. The agitation from yesterday was long gone and he knew he'd overdone it a little bit, too.

He gently shook the other awake, asking him about the letter and his pendant.

After having given Emil the medicine the night before, Lavi had gone to do some light reading - or what he considered light reading anyway - in the library until he'd been too tired to keep his single eye open any longer. Now he was slumped back against one of the shelves with books scattered about and splayed on his back in an undignified manner.

His loose, longer red hair hung in his face and hid his eyes like that of an Old English Sheepdog, so that he couldn't possibly see past them, and he snored softly with the occasional incomprehensible mutter.

He was awake – okay, well... sort of awake – immediately when Allen shook him, sitting up and groggily blurting out, "Phillip Augustus and the Battle of Bovines!"

He stopped and might have looked confused for a moment, though it was somewhat hard to tell with his hair hanging in his face. He shook his head and all his hair along with it before finally pushing it out of his face, blinking in question at Allen.

"Oh... 'morning, 'sprout," he greeted, pausing to yawn widely. It took a moment, but his mind finally caught up with him to recall the question Allen posed him. " 'still gotta finish that letter this morning, but I'm working on it," he promised. "I'm going to have to make some arrangements before I can send it off, but it should only take a couple days at most."

He rotated and massaged one shoulder, trying to work some of the stiffness out of it. He really needed to get better sleeping habits, starting with where he actually slept.

"Feeling any better today, now that you've slept?" He was watching Allen carefully and trying to discern if his answer would be an honest one or merely a placation, of which the latter was probably more likely, if he knew Allen at all.

Allen shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, a lot better, actually. You, on the other hand, look like a mess. Have you really slept all night here? You know, you could just get some pillows and sleep in my room." He offered, not really expecting a positive answer since libraries were practically Lavi´s regular sleeping places.

"Nah, it's fine, really," Lavi assured. "This isn't even the worst set-up, really. I've had much worse, and besides, those buddies of yours might be willing to work with me but they still really don't trust me, so it probably a bad idea anyway." He didn't want to step on any toes, after all, and he also had a certain aloofness he had to maintain.

"Did Emil give you my pendant?" Allen asked, trying to hide the worry that there was a chance the redhead has lost it. Even though Lavi was not that kind of person, Allen just couldn´t help himself but to worry about it. After all, that was a present from Kanda and the only way of making sure that whatever they sent each other was really from the other. They always traded them - when Kanda was sending something he would send the thing with his pendant and Allen would send his own in return. The pendants were specially made for them and there was no way someone could duplicate them since the two halves made up a whole.

"Yeah yeah yeah, don't worry, I didn't lose it. Give me a little more credit!" Lavi jibed, seeing the worry crease Allen's brow and flit through his eyes for a moment. "I haven't lost anything except for sleep since I was fourteen. Don't worry, it's perfectly safe."

Helping Lavi to sit up properly, Allen huffed in exasperation. "Really, how can you even get any rest like this? Anyway, Emil did tell you how to write the letter, right? I would do it myself but since we have a professional here..." He trailed off, chuckling.

Lavi nodded again. "Emil told me but I'm not really writing a letter to Kanda himself so much as another Bookman. I can include a letter explicitly to him though too, if you want to write one, but I'll be able to get a lot more information on other happenings besides just him this way, including things he might not be aware of."

Allen nodded acknowledgement. "Come on, let's go grab some breakfast."

Lavi threw a chummy arm over Allen's shoulder as he suggested breakfast, using the fingers of his other hand to try and tame his hair into some semblance of order.

"Breakfast sounds great to me, so long as you aren't planning on making me pay your bill again. I only got so much coin to live off of, ya know!"

"Don't worry. We dine here today. Not a fan of heavy breakfasts. Fruits and bread will do it for me, but I'm sure we can find something to suit your tastes as well," Allen chattered, leading Lavi to the main room.

"Hey, I'm not too picky of an eater myself so fruit and bread is just fine for me," Lavi assured. His travels didn't really let him be too picky since he could go from eating in luxury on one mission and barely eating at all on others, depending on the circumstances.

The arm around him made Allen feel strangely at peace. Maybe it was that he missed human touch or the touch of another man - which immediately led to thoughts about Kanda. Squeezing Lavi's hand, he stopped, looking at the ground.

"I'm sorry I flipped out yesterday. I shouldn't have done that." He looked up to the redhead's eye, not letting go of his hand and leaning his head against his arm enjoying the warmth. What he didn't notice was Emil suddenly coming to a stop behind them and glaring daggers at the bookman, most especially the arm around the white-haired man.

Lavi was aware of eyes on him, but then he was starting to get used to that recently. It seemed like everyone was adamant to keep eyes on him lately.

"It's fine. I mean, don't get me wrong, you can be a real pain when you want to be," he laughed. "-but the situation you're in is kind of tense and I understand that what happened yesterday isn't something easy to deal with. Deaths never are, especially when you're not expecting them, and it's going to take time to work through it properly. Turbulent emotions are just another part of the grieving process."

"Yeah," Allen sighed, "-but what you did was very dangerous. You don't go grabbing an assassin and dragging him into an alleyway." He frowned. "Sometimes reflexes take over whether you want them to or not and you may end up dead very fast. I´m not joking, Lavi. You were very close to death yesterday. Please, don't scare me like that again," he pleaded. Allen finally catching a glimpse of the glaring Emil lurking behind them. "Oh, Emil! Didn't you say you wanted to sleep?" Allen wondered, tilting his head.

The assassin grimaced, still glaring at Lavi's arm.

"I changed my mind..." he grumbled.

Allen shrugged and tugged Lavi along to the hall, completely oblivious to Emil's rage. Lavi exchanged a look between Emil and Allen as the attention turned to the following watch-dog now, easily picking up on the glare he was receiving, but he didn't say anything and pretended not to notice.

"Well to be fair, you were acting a bit reckless yourself. Besides, that's hardly the worst danger I've ever been in, you know. Kind of comes with the territory of chasing down wars and everything else the Bookmen deal with recording. But I digress. I'll try not to startle you again, unless it's absolutely necessary." He wasn't making any sure promises he wouldn't, but he would be careful not to resort to that unless he didn't see another way of getting the stubborn man to listen to him, which was why he had even done so the other day to begin with when Allen had set out on a war path.

Allen frowned in worry at Lavi.

Yes, he knew Lavi's choice career wasn't one of the safest, but he always liked to think that bookmen spent their lives with their heads buried in books far away from the chaos of the world, just like most scholars. A very idealistic vision and a very naïve one, but it still helped him to sleep at night, pretending that his friend is not in constant danger. Even though he had to admit that Lavi might be in higher danger now being with him than anywhere else, going by the looks his fellow assassins gave him. Why, though, he had no idea. It wasn't as if he hadn't proved himself to them. Wasn't his own trust and the display of friendship enough for them?

"I know," he said finally, leaning his head against the redhead's arm again to seek some comfort.

He led Lavi to the main hall, choosing a place hear the corner, not too close to the other dining men and women.

"So, the letter..." Allen started, taking a bite of his bread. "I'm going to write my part later today and give it to you, but do tell me when you actually send it..." He trailed off, mentally counting the days it would take to deliver and get a reply. "I see that Emil has started to work on his part already." Allen jerked his head to the left, trying to hide his smile.

Emil sat in the other corner, a plate of fruits and cheese in front of him and a little wooden desk on his knees. He was furiously scribing on the paper, occasionally taking a very unfriendly peek at them.

Lavi nodded his head as he retrieved breakfast and took a seat.

"Well I know that I won't be able to send it until tomorrow at the earliest... but I'll definitely tell you when it's ready. Just know that, realistically, it's going to take at least a couple of weeks, but likely longer. I don't expect that a reply will come for maybe a month or so, and it could still be longer than even that." He paused to take a bite of food, before speaking again. "In the meantime though, we can do some of our own ground-work here, and busy ourselves with trying to find information and prepare for whatever's coming. I have a few ideas of how we can do that, but first I need to know what you've already done in counter-measures and digging so I don't suggest the repetitive."

Allen hummed, already munching on his second loaf of bread.  
Of course, the plan... now how can he make Lavi be clueless of his actual plan? The longer the better...

"The plaaaan..." Allen snapped out of his musing, swallowing the last bit of his breakfast. "Oh yeah, well, first of all, I will need to get some information. We can split and ask around the city for some rumors. It never hurts to make sure there aren't any new ones. You know, new faces in the city and so." Yes, splitting up would work even later. There were always new rumors in the city... maybe he could lure Lavi away like that.

But first, the hunter.

"I am one-hundred percent sure it will be an Italian guy. A mercenary of some kind… maybe even an assassin. We should be looking for an outsider since everyone knows everyone here. If there's a new face amongst assassins, we will know. Do you know what a standard Italian assassin's outfit looks like?"

"Well I _did_ spend two years there, and I was around you a lot, so of course I know what they typically look like," Lavi assured with a little laugh. "However... if our enemy is any kind of smart, I don't suspect they'll be dressed to stand out, and I don't think they would have been able to keep out of the attention of all the assassins up to this point otherwise. If they had to pass through any points in the city where there would be a record of them entering as well, they could also be going by an alias to avoid detection. Speaking from a purely hypothetical standpoint, it's what I would do if I were them, but I guess that's assuming they're actually that clever."

Perhaps _as_ clever was pushing it, but he didn't think they would send someone too careless or sloppy to think of those. They seemed like they would be standard procedure to attempt assassinating someone as skilled and well-known as Allen was.

"Oh," he started again after a moment, chewing thoughtfully. "-and if you're going to try keeping me in the dark about things, you should practice being more inconspicuous about it. Not that there's anything I can do about anything you decide to withhold, but you're not the best liar... outside of gambling, anyway."

Allen stared at him for a second, assessing whether he knew about _that_ or not; but how would he, anyway? It was a secret only Allen and Kanda knew – and the people who were hunting him – but, of course, they weren't keen on telling other people about it.

He smiled. Lavi was smart. Too smart for his own good, but Allen will eventually go on with his own plan, making sure Lavi won't be in harm's way. Not him. Not anyone. Not if he can help it.

So he smiled. That soothing smile that always worked, even though Lavi might see through it. The redhead will eventually understand.

"We can start looking tonight. Never better to get rumors than at night. You finish that masterpiece of yours and I'm going to write my part." That wasn't a complete lie. "I'm going to leave it in the library on your table."

Allen looked around, searching for someone from the group of people Kanda trusted. "So, anything else you want to do today? I guess you already have your own plan forged, so do enlighten me, please." He grinned.

Lavi merely nodded and rested his chin on palm, knowing better than to press more than that. He could be long-winded sometimes once he got rolling, but sometimes there was a lot more mutual understanding in silence.

Always with that smile of his... that worrisome, disarming smile that Allen used so much. Even after all this time, that hadn't changed. Lavi returned it with a small smirk of his own.

"Like I said, I have a few ideas. I figure that you and your buddies here have probably started looking for leads. Anyway, the more I think about it, the more your entire situation bothers me. I don't mean on a personal level, so much as..." he paused and rubbed his head, trying to find the right wording. "I dunno... doesn't the way that the Italian assassins are handling this headhunt for you seem a little odd?"

Allen sighed. Heavily and tiredly. It was odd for people who didn't know.

"Yeah..." He murmured sadly. The thing they were after was last seen in Italy after all. But nobody knew it. Nobody, except few chosen people who were willing to give up everything – even their own creed – to get their hands on it. At some unknown, long forgotten point, Allen even started wondering if the Assassins and the Templars were really that different. The line was blurred and the future of their brotherhood uncertain. And for something that small. For something Allen´s hunters believed he has... and as long as it helps him to redirect their attention solely to him, he would let them keep thinking that. "It is weird." He figured he might really be a bad liar.

Changing that particular topic would be a good idea, especially if the topic would lead to revealing the aces he had up his sleeves. Those needed to be played in the final round and Allen would be very glad if they stayed hidden until then.

"So anyway, what do you want to do next? Any clever ideas where we should start first?" He asked, loud enough to attract some attention of 'Kanda's squad', as he called them.

"I've been thinking..." Lavi began slowly, eyeing Allen carefully in a knowing sort of way. If he suspected Allen of knowing something he wasn't sharing, the redhead didn't come out and say it, but his eye said that he suspected the possibility. "The way that they've been handling going after you doesn't make a lot of sense going by normal standard, even if they do suspect you of being on the Templar's side. If that were the case, they'd be able to handle it more openly and come directly to your allies here and, we-ll... basically expose you, if it was just as simple as that. Of course, then if you were innocent, which I don't doubt, then it would be a simple matter of clearing up a misunderstanding, but they haven't done either of those. Now, maybe I'm just overthinking things, I can't really say, but it seems like there's more to this than that, some sort of hidden agenda that maybe they don't want others outside their little inner circle to know, and somehow you stand in the way of something that they want," he stated. "That's the conclusion I can figure, from what I have to work from so far."

Even if Allen had nothing to say, he held up a hand to stop him from interrupting.

"Anyway, whether my guess holds any merit or not, doesn't really matter. You remember what we said briefly the other day, about the Byzantines and making enemies you can't afford? It's not a guarantee, but it's a possibility that we can gain an edge with their...cooperation, in a way. Yesterday you told me that the Byzantines are only interested in defending their own territories here in Turkey, but that's exactly why they _could_ be of help. You probably know the saying, _'the enemy of my enemy is a friend'_ , right? We just have to convince them that the assassins from Italy that are after you and your buddies stationed here are enough of a threat to them to take an interest in catching as well. Basically, a temporary truce, of sorts. The Byzantines are probably desperate for allies with having to deal with the pressure of the Ottoman, and can't afford any more issues to deal with, so why don't we convince them that they'll have more problems to worry about unless they help you? The shady way those from Italy have been trying to deal with you, for whatever reason, makes for good leverage to make it convincing, even if there's nothing deeper going on."

Oh, how Allen's head spun while Lavi kept talking. That clever bastard. But at least he doesn't know about the rumors yet and Allen would make sure it will stay that way until the very last possible moment.

The whole time the redhead talked, Allen kept his eyes firmly on the ornate rug he was sitting on. The room was suddenly unbearably hot.

Lavi's plan about making the Byzantines cooperate was brilliant. It only had one tiny catch; the Byzantines were very... picky about their allies. But then again, Lavi was a pretty good talker, _and_ a very good strategist. If he already had some plan of turning them against his hunters, he was sure the plan would be ninety-five percent successful.

When he finished, the white-haired man finally looked up. "I believe you already have a plan how to do that." Allen smiled weakly, still very uncomfortable after Lavi's first successful deduction. He stood up looking around the hall. "I need the names of the newcomers," he said loudly enough for everyone present in the room to hear. A simple order- …no, a request.

The nonchalantly looking assassins Allen marked as "Kanda's squad" left almost immediately, pausing only long enough to grace Allen with a bow of their heads. The man waited for everyone to leave, noticing only Emil still stubbornly sitting in the corner. Allen didn't really mind him.

Now that they were alone...

"Lavi," Allen started, looking his friend right in the eye. "Your deductions were right. It's not only the accused treason why they are after me." He knelt right in front of the bookman, putting his hands on his shoulders. "I only have one favor to ask of you: whatever you do, don't go looking for the truth. Some things are better left unknown."

He made sure the assassin in the corner heard it too. Catching his eye for a second Allen made sure Kanda's student will do what needs to be done. The rumors have to stay hidden from Lavi and everyone who would possibly intervene – Emil's job was to keep them that way.

Lavi wasn't all that surprised to hear that his educated guess had been somewhere close to the mark, though Allen wasn't willing to divulge any specifics. Even so, he felt he probably should have been honored Allen was willing to say that much honestly. Still, he also couldn't help but feel that part of the admission was exactly because he was getting closer to whatever was going on, and Allen was scared he would find out what it was, for whatever reason. This wasn't just an admission; it was a warning.

He recalled what Allen had said the evening before about what a fine prey he would make to Allen's hunters, and couldn't help but suspect that Allen was still worried he would end up as the next casualty.

He supposed that wasn't entirely unreasonable. Information was a powerful weapon sometimes, and people did die over knowing too much, but Lavi had become a Bookman for the very reason of knowing everything he could ever learn, even the things that no one else knew. Whatever secret Allen was sitting on, it sounded like it might have been something huge, and he was itching to know, ever the curious soul.

Of course he was also conflicted, which was a rarity, mainly for the fact that he had a certain respect for the man. He laughed a little, sounding somewhat reluctant.

"As much as it pains me to say this, I will _try_ not to stick my nose too far where it doesn't belong, even though that's sort of my job." It wasn't as though he didn't harbor his own secrets, ones that even Allen wasn't privy to. It only stood to reason that he extended the same boundaries to his one true friend in the world. It was only fair.

"I guess that's good enough for now," Allen said. That is the best Lavi could do to assure him, but he knew the bookman would sooner or later snoop around. He knew Lavi wouldn't be able to help himself later. But he had enough time to make sure he won't find out until then. "What's the plan then?"

"Well, later on, I think we should discuss how we're going to go about the whole thing with the Byzantines and figure out a way to make it work most effectively. Not just discussing it between you and I, mind you, but the others in your group, so that everyone's on the same page. I'll let you decide who you trust to take part in that meeting, since it's really your own problem," he nodded decisively. "Until then, I still have one last district to explore that I haven't had the chance to see yet. We can poke around for some information and rumors in town, and there's a blacksmith in that district marked as an ally to the Assassins. It might be a good idea to pay them a visit, ask if they've seen or heard anything, and perhaps see if they have any new items of interest... or just get any armor and weapons you have checked for damage that might need repairing, just in case. We might also ask around some of the taverns in town for information. Assuming your enemy is still in town, they're going to need a place to stay, and that seems as good a place as any to start looking."

He had other information to ask about besides that as well, regarding his arrangements for the letter he would have to send, but he omitted this part for now.

"Sounds like a plan. So, the blacksmith's first? I guess tomorrow is a good start at gathering Kanda's squad, so we can have a scouting day today first. We can finish with the taverns. I guess it will be the most logical thing to do since we also need some time to rest." Allen nodded, jerking his head towards the exit. "Lead the way, my friend. I'm looking forward to following you for a change." He smirked, standing up.

Lavi chuckled as he stood, taking a last piece of fruit with him. He could always just eat it on the way, anyways.

"You just want me to lead so we don't get lost," he teased. "You were a lousy navigator when we were kids and I don't imagine that's changed much with age." He really had no way of knowing this for certain, but it hardly mattered. He could still use it as fuel for poking fun.

Allen laughed heartily, shaking his head. "Yeah, you got me there. Which district is it anyway?" He asked as he waved his arm in a wide arch, signaling to Lavi to lead the way.

"It's the South Constantine district," Lavi replied, toting along his weapon propped casually over his shoulder. "So it's a little bit of a distance, and we're going to have to ferry across the water."


	9. Misunderstandings

Lavi led the way, stopping at different places marked in the Assassin's log book to confirm some of the information in it, and ask about rumors or recent happenings at some shops. After a time, they came to the district's blacksmith shop he had mentioned before.

Lavi didn't immediately see a shopkeeper, though his single, watchful eye soon found a figure within. A small one.

The figure was short and brown-haired, working the bellows of a furnace. It looked like only a kid, maybe twelve years at the most, skin tainted dark shades of pink and wiping sweat off his brow with the back of his sleeve.

"Hey there," he acknowledged, finally getting the kid's attention. Lavi wore a charming smile and leaned one elbow on the counter. "Say, you wouldn't by any chance happen to-" He didn't get the chance to finish as the boy ducked through a door into the back room, leaving the redhead to trail off mid-sentence. He glanced at Allen. "...well that was a little rude. Could've at least let me finish what I was going to say," he mused.

After a few seconds, a fully grown man appeared to greet them, wearing a deep-set frown.

"Is there something I can do for you?"

"Well first off, we might be interested in taking a look at some of your wares... any new weapons or armor you might have," Lavi spoke, starting off with an easier topic before he'd bring up the Assassin-targeted death. "Specifically ones you might have for my friend here," he motioned to Allen a moment with a small jerk of his head.

Allen chuckled at the boy's dismissal and greeted the blacksmith with a silent nod and a wave of his hand.

He kept silent as Lavi talked to the man. He stared at the door leading to the backroom for a while, spacing out. Suddenly, the door moved ever so slightly.

The brown-haired boy briefly glanced out from the back again warily. Allen smiled sweetly and waved his hand at him. The child didn't return the greeting, mostly watching the shopkeeper. After a moment, he re-emerged to take a seat at the far side with a flagon of water, drinking it down thirstily and leaning forward to dump what was left of it over his hair, shaking his head off. He looking sufferingly hot.

Allen's attention was brought back to Lavi as the redhead continued speaking.

"If not that, then maybe you could give some of his gear a look-over for damage?"

The man nodded and straightened up, eyeing Allen's assassin gear appraisingly, and tossed a glance over his shoulder at the child.

"Hey, boy, go in the back and check our stock," he barked. "-and when you're done with that, get back to those bellows, and make sure that furnace is good and hot! I didn't say you could take a break!"

The brunette gave the man a dirty glance, looking like he had some sort of biting retort just itching on the tip of his tongue, but thought better of it and disappeared into the back room again without a word, returning with a few items that he deposited on the counter and then quickly retreated back to work.

"Geez, and I thought _my_ old man was a slave-driver," Lavi couldn't help but whisper near Allen's ear while the man's back was turned, too quietly to be overheard, and going back to looking as though he'd never said anything when the man turned back to them.

"These are what we have available at the moment in large weapons, if any of them interest you."

Allen leaned forward, sparing only a second to peek at the boy who disappeared into the shop again.

He had to admit that if it wasn't for Lavi, he would have probably made his life even more difficult than it already is. He hadn't thought about checking his armor and weapons in a long time. He was too used to wearing just light garbs. They made sneaking and fast killing much easier, and most of the time he didn't need any proper armor pieces.

Thinking about that and looking at the goods the blacksmith was offering he remembered another thing. Maybe he could finally put _that_ armor to a good use. Allen made a mental note to check on it later. Patting his vembraces, he nodded to the man.

"How fast can you have this repaired?" he asked, mentally crying for his damaged and neglected gear. "Also, show me your small blades." He looked at Lavi and clarified: "Better to use those. I can't swing my broadsword around so freely here."

"Boy, go fetch the small blades," the man snapped over his shoulder, before grumbled something incoherent under his breath as he inspected the pieces of armor Allen indicated, idly grinding his jaw.

Lavi took the time that the man was inspecting the armor and humming to himself in thought to get a proper look at him. If he had to guess a place of origin, he'd have to say the guy was probably Finnish, perhaps a little bit Polish as well, with dirty-blond hair and a sturdy build.

His single eye slid to the kid, though it was a little harder to get a direct look at him. He'd probably have to guess Norwegian, or one of its neighboring countries, with maybe a little asian mixed in, though diluted across several generations. He had a small build and the white shirt he wore - which had several spots that were burned or singed, probably from working around hot metal and fire - was entirely too big for his slight frame, held in place from draping too low by a thick, leather, outer belt on his waist.

"...you've put some real wear and tear on these," the man finally spoke, breaking Lavi's train of thought. "-but I think I can fix them up adequately enough given a few days, or it could take longer. It depends on how quickly you need these back. The longer I have them, the more thorough of a job I can do. It would take less time if you'd get them maintenanced more regularly though."

Allen scratched his head and chuckled nervously at the scolding.

"Well, didn't get the time to think about that. Too busy for that. I can probably leave it here for a week. But anyway," he added quickly, "didn't you want something, too, Lavi?" he asked, watching the small boy stagger to the front of the shop with the daggers.

Lavi nodded, casually leaning against the wall alongside the counter and discreetly glancing about the street, just to be sure nothing looked suspicious.

"We were hoping you might also have some information for us," he began. "There was a murder recently, specifically targeted at the Assassins."

The man nodded his head distractedly as the boy deposited the blades and once again ducked away back to the furnace skittishly. Something about the kid's demeanor seemed odd to the redhead, but he couldn't place his finger on exactly what it was that was bugging him. He supposed it didn't matter at the moment.

"I heard about that. 'real shame." The man didn't sound like he particularly cared.

"It's possible that they could target any allies in the city as well, so I figured it might be a good idea to give you a heads up as well. It would be helpful if you'd heard or seen anything too," Lavi stated.

"Well, I'm just going to tell you what I told the ones that asked me the same thing yesterday. I didn't see nothin', or hear nothin'. If I do, you'll be the first ones to know."

Allen gave Lavi a pointed look and then glanced at the door where the little boy disappeared again.

"Nice blades." The white-haired man praised, carefully fingering the weapons. He needed something speedy. A slim, slightly curved blade caught his eye. "This one looks fine..." He trailed off, carefully dragging his finger across the sharp side. "Mind if I try it out?" He asked, only slightly turning to Lavi, trying to find out if he needed a distraction or not.

He liked the blacksmith less and less with every second. His goods were top quality, though, he thought, turning around the slim dagger.

"Go ahead," the man nodded. "Just don't go running off with it or anything."

Lavi exchanged the brief glance with Allen and eyed the inside of the shop, or the parts that he could see at least, his trained eye trying to pick out anything that might be amiss. Their enemy was likely part of the Assassins as well, after all, albeit a different location, so it wasn't entirely ungrounded to assume that they might have help. It didn't hurt to be absolutely sure.

Nothing immediately jumped out at him as potentially suspicious, though he did notice the kid watching the pair out of the corner of a blue eye. It was subtle, and likely someone else might have missed it, but not Lavi.

"What about him?" Lavi proposed with a discreet motion of his head. "Maybe he saw or heard something?"

The kid didn't acknowledge him, and after a moment the man straightened up and swiveled to look over at the brunette that either didn't hear or was pointedly ignoring them. Somehow Lavi guessed the latter over the former.

"Hey, boy! He's asking you a question! Did you know anything?"

"No," the boy finally spoke in answer without looking away from his work, Lavi having to strain to hear him. The brunette's voice was soft-edged and hoarse, either like he talked too much and was losing his voice, or didn't talk enough.

"What was that?" the man snapped, the boy flinching and finally stopping to look over at the blacksmith. For a moment, Lavi could almost feel the silent tension in the air between the two as they stared each other down, as if they were having a silent battle of wills, before the kid looked away again.

"No, _master_."

The man snorted again and turned back towards them, seemingly satisfied.

"Dumb brat can't even remember his manners. I doubt he'd remember anything even if he'd seen something," he dismissed with a sniff, before his attention went back to Allen. "So how do you like that blade?"

Allen frowned at the blacksmith's attitude towards the boy. Sure, he himself had to endure his own master's antics but Cross was never like this. He also knew that the children in the streets had a hard life but there was no reason to make it even harder.

His patience with the man was dangerously nearing its limit.

The assassin swung the blade and bore it into the wooden counter, right next to the blacksmith's hand, making the man jump slightly.

"Blade's fine." Allen gave a short answer with a sweet smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I'll come back for that armor in five days." He jerked his head towards the vembraces next to the pile of daggers. "I'm sure you'll do your best with them," he said with false cheer. Glancing at the boy for the last time, he turned to Lavi again. "We're done here, I believe. Keep that blade for me, please!" Allen added, pointing at the dagger still wedged in the wood. "I'm going to pick it up later."

The man gave the assassin a glare though if he had anything to say, he kept it to himself, instead nodding with a scowl etching his features.

"Five days it is then."

Lavi gave the blacksmith one last glance before he moved to follow Allen, casually shoving a hand into his pocket as he trailed just a step or two behind. He didn't opt to speak until the shop was a ways behind them.

"You okay there, 'sprout?" he questioned, having noticed Allen's temper start to flare. Not that it was easy to miss. The other male could lash like a snake when something managed to get under his skin. "Y'know making the guy fear losing his hand might not be the best idea when he's the one you're relying on to work on your armor and weapons."

"Well, it's not like I can't punish him in case he chooses to sabotage my gear," Allen grumbled back. Really, when did he became so short tempered? Kanda sure started to rub off on him... "We need to speak to that boy," he said, sighing heavily. "He couldn't be any more suspicious... I bet he knows something. But anyway - how about the taverns? I trust Kanda's assassins but I'd rather make sure myself."

Lavi only chuckled and idly scratched the side of his cheek.

"Yeah, that's true, I guess," he mused. He nodded his head at the other bit about the kid. "-and I have to agree. Something about that boy is bugging me too but I can't place exactly why, other than maybe he's hiding something." He shrugged dismissively. "Anyway, we can always cross that bridge a little later. We'll try the taverns for now and see where that gets us."

He didn't comment about the part of the other assassins. It wasn't like double-checking and covering all of their bases was a bad idea, after all. Lavi had told him they should be careful before and this certainly fell under that advice.

Allen nodded, flexing his hands and trying his hidden blades few times. It somehow became a habit when he was nervous and it helped him to calm down.

"I could always come by later and tell him to send the boy with the gear. That way we will be able to talk to him properly. So, where do you want to start? It's not like we can only go in and start asking questions. We might as well enjoy ourselves while we do so. After all, people always talk more when they feel comfortable."

He would let Lavi decide which taverns were going to be first on their list. With a heavy sigh, he braced himself for a very possible hangover that might occur tomorrow.

Lavi nodded as he overtook Allen to lead the way. There were only a handful of places in town, but he had already learned where all of them were. He figured they'd start at the closest one and steadily go from one to another on their way back towards the Galata den. Taverns usually held a wealth of information and rumors, so long as one knew how to sniff them out, and Lavi was an expert at sniffing out intel.

"Sounds like a plan to me," he agreed. "Anyway, there's one this way near the center of town on this side of the water. We'll start there, then the one on the west end, and finish at the one by the docks in the Galata district."

"Your choice!" Allen chirped, bowing in mock and gesturing with his hand for Lavi to lead the way. "Any specialties you'd recommend, sir?" He laughed, adding a warning. "And be careful with the ladies. They tend to be more deadlier than men around here."

Lavi laughed heartily.

"I'd recommend keeping it light on the alcohol," Lavi teased. "Information is only useful if you're of enough sobriety to remember it, and we have three taverns to check before the night is over." They couldn't entirely _not_ order something though. Lips were a bit more loose when those giving it were getting something in return after all. It was always wise to flash a little coin before getting down to business. "And please, you give me too little credit. You think I don't know how to handle tough ladies? Feisty or not, a woman is still a woman, and I can be quite charming if I do say so myself."

"We will see about that, but first..." Allen trailed off looking around. "I knew it was somewhere here! Come!" He said, urging Lavi forward.

They came to a halt in front of the tailor shop and Allen puffed his chest in self-satisfaction. No getting lost this time!

"Hello," he greeted, leaning over the counter, peeking inside. In short order, he arranged for some less flashy clothing and changed.

"I can't just run around taverns in my assassin gear - that attracts too much attention and even though it is good while I... interrogate people one on one, it doesn't help me much when we're in a public place," the white haired man said, tuning around and adjusting his new, much plainer clothes. "Now we are ready to go!" He exclaimed, saying his thanks to the tailor, reminding him to stash his original clothes somewhere and that he's going to pick them up later. "Lead the way!"

Lavi nodded his approval and once again took the lead once Allen was ready, thinking it a good idea that Allen was really using his head now and trying to be more careful than he had been before, with not trying to draw too much attention.

They went to the first and second tavern, and there were some rumors to be found - certainly and always - and none of it entirely worthless knowledge, but none along the lines of what they were searching for. They still had the one last tavern to check, however, which they headed to directly after stepping off the ferry.

When they reached the building, he set his sights on a few chairs around the bar, leading the way there. He greeted the barkeeper with an acknowledging smile as he took a seat.

"You two here for a drink?" Lavi nodded his head. "Can I interest either of you in our house special?" Lavi wasn't really sure what that was, but he decided it better not to chance it.

"No thanks, just something light to take the ease off. I still need a clear head for work I need to get done tonight," he explained, fishing out a few coins and sliding them forward. The man nodded in understanding and glanced at Allen.

"And what about you?"

Allen watched Lavi for a while in deep thought. One shrug later he sat down next to his friend and put his own couple of coins on the counter.

"Why not?" he said finally. Lavi couldn't help but glance at Allen in a warning sort of question, but didn't make a scene out of it, despite that he really wanted to ask if the other thought that was such a good idea. But whatever. Focusing on the task at hand was more important, and Allen ignored it anyway. He still didn't feel any side effects from the drinks he had in the previous two places, so really, why not? "I'll give it a shot."

Discreetly looking around the tavern, Allen spotted a man in the corner, sitting on the carpets on the floor alone, smoking a pipe. Allen jerked his head towards him without a word, glancing back at the barkeeper.

The man prepared two drinks and brought them over, Lavi taking a small sip from his as he also cast a brief look about the bar and saw Allen's small motion.

"So..." he began casually, once the barkeeper was once again close enough and not held up by other customers. "Any interesting new characters in town, or curious talk you might have heard? Especially anything breezing in from the west?"

The barkeeper tilted his head, his eyes jumping from Lavi to Allen.

"From the west, eh?" The man repeated slowly, taking his while to adjust few cups and bottles under the table. Pursing his lips, he looked around the room and then finally back at the two men by the counter. He continued with a nonchalant shrug.

"Only a couple of priests I believe they were, some scholars and some traders." He leaned forward, both Lavi and Allen unconsciously mirroring his move. "Some say the scholars came here to search for something that can make them immortal." He whispered, nodding his head.

Allen slammed his now empty cup on the counter, almost spitting the drink out. Forcing the liquid down he coughed, into his fist, covering his snort.

"Anything else?" He asked, trying to hide his amusement. Leave it to scholars to believe such nonsense.

The barkeeper shrugged. "Depends on how thirsty you are, sir," he countered.

Allen laughed and put another small stack of his money on the table. "One more, please."

Lavi listened intently and, unlike Allen, didn't sputter into laughter at the barkeepers words, though he couldn't help but be entertained by Allen's own amusement for a moment.

Though Allen was quick to dismiss the rumors, Lavi gave them a little more thought. Rumors and appearances were often more complicated than they first seemed and he didn't exactly expect whoever was after Allen to just walk into town announcing _"Yes, hi, I'm an Assassin here to kill other Assassins"_ , so to assume they would find out with direct information was improbable at best.

If he recalled correctly - and he rarely didn't - Rome was where the Vatican was located, so it was a possibility their unknown enemy could have come from their posing as, or even officially being, a priest.

Of course they could have also been in town as the aforementioned scholars seeking immortality. From what he recalled knowing of both the Assassins and the Templars, it fell under the type of things they often both seemed to seek after, either for their own gain or to keep others from reaching out of their own gain, were such a thing possible. Or even only believed to be possible. There was always someone searching after tales of immortality, but it still seemed suspicious to him. After all, who would probe too deeply into such an asinine endeavor? Their supposed goal would be seen and scoffed at as ridiculous, and therefore people would pay them no mind for thinking them crazy. It was a potentially perfect set-up for someone that wanted to remain secret in plain view.

Of course they could also be posing as a trader. Traveling merchants were probably the most common of temporary visitors to any place, especially a port city like Istanbul. They were as common as birds in the sky or fish in the sea and nearly impossible to track. That also made for an ideal catalyst for infiltrating the city unnoticed and hiding in open sight.

Of course all of these hypothesis' were purely conjecture, and perhaps he was simply overthinking it, but he was nothing if not thorough in his hyper-criticality, and it was better to keep his mind open to all possibilities than to overlook something that, given the circumstances, could either save or doom someone's life. And the one whose life was in the most peril right now was Allen's, which made it a little more important to the redhead than he usually expended the thought towards.

He plastered a smile on his face and decided he'd dig a little deeper and see what else he could squeeze out. Asking about the incoming traders would be a pointless endeavor already, with how many trade ships slid in and out of port on a daily basis, so he mentally checked that off his list without even bothering. He was still trying to figure out a tactful way to ask about more information on the priests, which he doubted the man would know much about, but he already knew how he could ask about the scholars without coming across as too suspicious himself.

He'd simply play into the image of believing such stories or as if he would like to chase such a rumor himself and let it pan out from there. If it turned out to be nothing, then he wasn't taking a big risk anyway.

"Immortality, you say? That's certainly a juicy rumor if I ever heard one. If it's people of high stature and education that are after it like you say, then perhaps there might be a hint of merit behind it," he smiled charmingly and put on his best look of rapt curiosity, resting his chin on palm. "Do tell me more, if you know anything, like... where are they coming from? -or where are they headed? -or perhaps you know where they're staying so I can go ask them myself?"

The man shot Allen an amused look when he finished his drink in one go again. It seemed like he wanted to comment that but he decided against it and started making another one.

"Well, I am not the best to judge accents, but I'd say Italy or Spain, perhaps. They were a funny bunch though - after a few drinks, that is. They started to argue after a while - shouting about that item of theirs. A philosopher's stone or some such legend."

He leaned against the counter on his elbows, putting the drink in front of Allen, watching him with an amused and kind of happy expression. "Something about heresy and things like that. Things got heated up very quickly. No fights, though, just lot of shouting. I have to disappoint you, though," the barkeeper said, waving his hand at Lavi. "My memory is really cloudy today..." he trailed off on purpose, tilting his head slightly, then glancing back at the still drinking Allen.

Lavi nodded his head, the part about Italy sticking out to him like a sore thumb. It might be nothing, but it was worth investigating anyway, just to be sure. He caught the hinting quality of the man's voice. He wanted the redhead to buy another drink, but he'd heard enough for the moment. If he needed to hear more, he knew where to come back to.

He finished his single drink off with a quick swig and swiveled around in his seat, sliding a few more coins over, mainly as just a little tip. A little thanks to the man for indulging them. It never hurt to win favor with the locals in case he needed to call upon them again, after all.

"Well thank you kindly," he offered up before his gaze slid to Allen. "Come on, 'sprout, I think we're done here."

Allen slammed the empty cup on the counter and blinked. "Oh my," he gasped, smiling at the barkeeper with his radiant smile. "The drink is very good, sir!" He stood up, nodding at Lavi. "Where's the next stop?" Allen asked, suppressing a small giggle after he shared another look with the man behind the bar.

"Careful, young man!" the man warned friendlily, half laughing and waving his hand. "Hope we'll see each other again!"

Lavi tossed an arm over Allen's shoulder and led him away, offering a casual parting behind him as he stepped out the door.

"We are, in fact, done for the night. That was the last tavern to check," the redhead told him, jabbing a finger into Allen's collarbone. "...and I told _you_ to watch it with those drinks. Even if we still had more places to check, it'd be a bad idea to drag you around to them already drunk silly." Hopefully trouble wouldn't find them because it would be a bad time for them - and a perfect time for an enemy - to try and get the drop on them. Lavi himself was a little buzzed but he had been incredibly mindful of how much he drank and how heavy on the alcohol those drinks were, so he was still keeping alert. Maybe even more so because he doubted Allen could muster the concentration at the moment. "Anyway, we should get you home where you can sleep it off."

"Nooo~" Allen whined, stomping his foot childishly, bursting into giggles right after. "I'm sorry," he said, trying to hide his smile with his hand as he started walking. "Come on! But it's so much fun!" Another burst of giggles followed. "I am seriously not drunk." He said, but however much he tried, he couldn't school his expression into a serious one. "At least let's go th-" Allen turned around, fully prepared to dash off to another tavern but was caught off guard when he bumped into a man and collapsing on the ground.

"I'm sorry..." the man murmured quietly, patting the ground in front of him. Allen sat up and blinked.

"I'm sorry, sir! Didn't expect anyone to stand behind me!" He smiled, still sitting still.

"It is alright, young man," the man smiled, putting on the glasses he retrieved from the ground. "Good evening." He said and hobbled away.

Allen stared after him in silence for a while but that only lasted until the man was far enough for him to burst into another fit of giggles.

Lavi rolled his single eye at Allen's childish display, but of course the man was determined to be stubborn. That part of him never changed, even when he was drunk. He made a grab for him when he turned to run, but didn't get the chance before he ran into someone, Lavi watching both of them carefully, just in case, but there was no need for alarm, it seemed.

He shook his head and decided he'd better pick Allen up instead, lifting him bridal style and starting back towards the den again, which wasn't far off.

"No, you're definitely drunk," Lavi assured without hesitation. "When you're too inebriated to know your surroundings enough not to run into people the second you turn around, when there are barely even people out to run into, then you're too drunk to stay out."

_Especially when there are people who would probably love to get the drop on you and kill you right now._

"Oh!" Allen cried as Lavi picked him up, immediately wrapping his arms around his neck. "Careful! Don't you drop me!" He looked around groggily. "Wow, why is everything spinning suddenly? It wasn't this bad a few moments ago." Another fit of laughter followed.

"I'm not going to drop you," Lavi assured, glad that Allen was a bit smaller and lighter than him, otherwise this would be a lot more difficult.

He made it to the den relatively quickly, deciding not to inform Allen that he was suddenly more dizzy because he was drunk - again- and simply focused on getting him home and to bed.

Having the man clinging to him was an extra bonus he secretly enjoyed the entire way. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. It gave him an excuse to have Allen just a little closer than he could normally get away with.

It was mostly quiet in the den once they arrived, most having either turned in or settled down to relax for the evening. He caught the eye of another assassin lounging in the front room and had to offer up a quick, "He got really drunk," as an explanation in passing, smiling wryly.

He made a bee-line for Allen's room to set him down, announcing, "Here we are. See? I didn't drop ya. You can stop hangin' on for dear life now," he teased, trying to pull away once he'd deposited the man onto his bed.

"Lavi!~" Allen smiled, "Don't leave!~" Tightening his grip on Lavi's neck, he used his weight to keep the redhead in place. "Come on..." He whispered into his ear.

 _Oh shit, don't smile at me like that,_ Lavi couldn't help but think, pulling away not going so well, and Allen acting adorably clingy was not helping matters at all. He pushed those thoughts away. He shouldn't even be thinking about it. _Don't think about it._

"I can hang around for a bit but you really should let go," Lavi said carefully, having to force his voice level. "You're still drunk-" and despite how difficult Allen was currently trying to make things for him, he would never stoop to taking advantage. "-and we really shouldn't be seen like this either way."

"Nobody can see us," Allen whispered huskily, sitting up on the bed and pressing his lips to the redhead's ear. "Nobody'll know if you stay silent enough," he continued but with much sleepier voice, biting Lavi's hear and raking his hand through his hair.

Lavi couldn't remember Allen being a horny drunk - or usually getting drunk at all, but certainly not on the few times they had gotten drunk together - but this boded really, really badly since he was of enough coherency to realize exactly how compromising of a position they were both in. The fact that the heat rising to his face had yet to pool south was astonishing.

At least his body wasn't trying to be as uncooperative as Allen was. _Yet._ That was the key word, wasn't it?

_Maybe he'll pass out before it can escalate._

"Th-that's not the problem, Allen," he managed to squeak out, trying to dislodge Allen's hands from him. "I don't think we should be doing this... you're still drunk and you'd probably regret it come morning." Hell, he was regretting it _right now_. "B-besides, even if that's not the case, there's no guarantee nobody'd walk in on us and I'd rather not be here when that happens, so just... let go, will ya?"

"This is new," the white-haired man giggled, throwing himself back which resulted dragging Lavi onto himself. "Stay here tonight. Don't go away! I missed you so much..."

He kept talking but his eyes were already unseeing. He put his palms on Lavi's cheeks, closing his eyes. "Why did you cut your hair...?" Allen asked, moving his lips to Lavi's. The kiss was short but sweet.

If anyone found them like this, Lavi was undeniably dead. Especially if certain people found them like this. And at this point he wasn't sure if he wanted to leave. He would, once he managed to untangle himself, but that didn't mean he wanted to.

Damn that guy... dragging him into this. Literally. He was never letting Allen drink around him again.

He froze as Allen pecked him on the lips lovingly, his mind taking a few moments to wind back to the question the other posed him.

…cut his hair?

"I haven't cut anything, Allen..."

He trailed off slightly, and suddenly it dawned on him, as well as confirmed what he'd been suspecting lately ever since he first heard about it. Allen didn't want _him_ here. The one he wanted to have in his bed was _Kanda_.

Lavi wasn't sure whether to be relieved or hurt by that revelation.

He sighed.

"You should sleep," he murmured quietly. Maybe then he could get loose and slip away before anything regrettable happened.

"You're leaving me again," Allen whined, relaxing his hands slightly. "Why...?"

Lavi wasn't really sure this time who those words were directed at, but either way, they pierced him like a sword. He wanted to kiss those lips back and do everything to convince Allen that he wouldn't, but he couldn't do that. Not about himself nor Kanda. He supposed it didn't matter though. Allen passed out only seconds afterward, just before he heard an indignant shout behind him.

Lady Luck was not on Lavi's side that day because right as Allen fell unconscious, Emil walked through the door. The assassin froze on the spot with his eyes wide opened, staring at them.

"YOU!" He spat out, his voice laced with betrayal and outrage.

 _Oh fuck me._ Out of the frying pan. Into the fire.

"It ain't what it looks like!" Lavi defended, untangling Allen from him, maybe a little more hastily than he'd originally planned. "He's just drunk! We weren't doing anything!"

Emil bared his hidden blades, taking a step forwards. "I should have known!" He growled, slowly advancing. "You…! You...! Harlot! I am not going to wait until my master comes back! I'm going to deal with you myself! Taking advantage of him like this! Have you no shame?!" He yelled, taking an offensive pose.

Lavi held up his hands in a placating manner as his single eye widened.

"I would never do something like that! This is seriously just a big misunderstanding!" he yelped, flustered. "It isn't my fault the guy has an iron grip! _You_ try prying him off when he gets like that!"

"Liar! Come here!" He dashed forward, swinging his blade in a wide arch but missing as Lavi yelped and ducked just in time to avoid the assassin's blade, unless you counted a few stray hairs, leaving a scratch on the wall right about where his neck would have been.

Geez, this guy wasn't fooling around!

Emil was about to swing the other way when a deep, throaty moan echoed in the room and a shirt ended up on his face. When the piece of clothing fell on the ground, he was presented with his mentor's half-naked lover sleepily fighting with the sheets on the bed.

"Keep it quiet, please," Allen murmured absently, turning on his side and passing out again. All the anger changed to embarrassment, coloring Emil's cheeks a rose red hue.

Lavi almost wanted to thank a God, though he wasn't sure which one, when Allen stirred just enough to create a distraction for him. It didn't take a brilliant tactician like him to know when he had been given a perfectly exploitable opening and snuck by while Emil was busy being dumbstruck, retreating to safety and hoping the guy would let bygones be bygones and forget about it. Or just let it go. Either one worked.

Kanda's student recovered from his embarrassment a moment too late to catch the escaping redhead. He stood in the room, silently reciting every curse he knew in every language he could to keep himself from shouting.

He dashed out of the room but Lavi already had a head start, and he didn't want to cause any stir up at the moment anyway. He glared daggers at the bookman pervert until he disappeared completely, leaving him in the hall alone.

"Don't you think this is over!" He snarled before returning to Allen's room, sitting down by his bed and folding the clothes the white-haired man had shed. He knew glaring at an empty hallway wouldn't help much, but he still kept throwing nasty looks that way, as if hoping the redhead would return.

Letting out a heavy sigh, he put the clothes down next to him, paying attention to Allen's uneasy murmurs. It seemed like even despite being in this state, his mind still wouldn't let him have a peaceful sleep.

Emil sighed and slid against the wall, sighing once more. He'd rather stay and keep an eye on him, just in case...

* * *

Lavi sighed and massaged the back of his neck wearily as Emil gave up with a last, promising shout. His nape still faintly tingled where Allen had been clinging to him, but he tried to pretend he didn't notice. He was already in the dog-house with Emil and the man was likely to never once leave the two alone again, for even the briefest stretch of time. He'd probably be lucky to be able to take a piss without the guy knowing about it.

_Oh well. Can't be helped._

Maybe some heavy reading would take his mind off it, something he had to really concentrate hard on. He still had that one book in his bag he'd never quite managed to get through... he kept putting it off because it was in a language he still had a hard time reading and understanding. That would be a perfect distraction.

He settled down once he'd retrieved it from his bag of personal belongings and souvenirs, flipping it open carefully as he mused aloud, "Hello, my old, difficult friend. Let's see if we can't get through a few more chapters before you kick my head into submission again."

He tried to focus on it, and for a while it worked, but in his frustration, his mind kept wandering back to what had, and what had _almost_ , transpired. His eidetic memory kept conjuring up the feel of Allen's breath ghosting on his ear carrying seductive words, the warmth of his waiting body and affectionate lips, and that lonely, genuine smile...

_THUNK._

"Damn it..." He hissed with face flush against the crease of his book.

Maybe searching out Allen after all these years hadn't been such a good idea. But he was _over_ it. He _was_! They had just been two dumb teenagers listening more to their hormones than logic back then. It hadn't meant anything. Anything at all. Lavi had moved on and continued his work. Allen had moved on, and he'd found Kanda. They were over each other. It was done with. Allen didn't want him, he wanted Kanda. And Lavi _didn't_ want him either, right? Right.

_Liar._

He sighed and rested his head sidelong against the pages.

"Why'd ya have to go and do that, 'sprout?" Only the silence of scattered and shelved books answered him. He decided reading wasn't going to do him any good, so he put the books away and tried to find sleep, which he had about the same level of success with as the reading attempt had been. His mind just wouldn't quiet down enough for that, so instead he ended up staring at the same row of books for what must have been hours, thinking.

He guessed it was only natural, though. Allen was under a lot of stress. He'd gone through a lot in the last couple years. Betrayed by his comrades and almost put to death... and then to be separated from the person he loved, who was out risking his life for Allen without a word of reassurance shared between them. Plus it had only been two days since someone he cared about had been murdered, and they still had no idea who was responsible or where they could be hiding. And if there was one thing Lavi should have known, it was never take an overly stressed, lonely man out for drinking. In retrospect, that whole thing really was entirely his own fault. He should have been keeping a closer eye on Allen, because if he wasn't reckless in one way, it was always in another.

Carrying on with thinking about it for too long though was going to drive him insane, his mind still determined to flash back to that bedroom, so he tried to occupy his thoughts with something else.

He knew exactly what to do that would help settle the tempest in his head. Besides, Allen had it coming for more than one instance, and this was the best opportunity.


	10. Counterstrikes

Since he'd never managed to sleep, Lavi was up before anyone else when morning started to dawn. It was a perfect opportunity for him to make his move, a sly little smile on his face as he retrieved a few items from his bag and a little other special something he'd acquired during the night just for the occasion.

He made it a point to walk quietly as he made his way towards Allen's room, peering around the door carefully. Just as he'd hoped, he caught both the white-haired man and Emil asleep, none the wiser to his presence.

Perfect.

Lightly biting his lower lip and trying to contain a grin, he carefully crept around them until he was in position, uncorking the vial in-hand. Dabbing the soft hairs of a brush into the ink, he went to work, the far corner of his lips twitching into a mischievous smile.

One of the other assassins that had recently woken passed by and stopped in the doorway, staring indecisively and suspicious about whether or not to intervene, eyeing the vial and brush, the intense look of up-to-no-good concentration on Lavi's face, and then the markings on Allen's.

Lavi went rigidly still as the younger man shifted, twitching his face, but didn't stir. He almost snickered aloud but managed to resist, going back to work once the sleeping friend of his stopped moving.

Seeming to decide that whatever was going on wasn't anything dangerous to worry about - at least not for Allen, though the same could probably not be said for the redhead once the 'White Demon' became wise to what was happening - the assassin shook his head and walked off, thinking it was probably better he didn't get caught up between them when Allen changed the visiting _Bookman_ into a _Deadman_. It wasn't worth getting killed in the crossfire.

Satisfied with his handiwork, and without managing to rouse Allen in doing so - yep, he'd _still_ got it - Lavi closed and pocketed the vial of ink, and circled around to the foot of the bed, producing a small, wriggling pouch that he pulled a mouse out of by its tail. Lavi's grin fully blossomed at this point.

"Don't let me down, little buddy," he whispered, barely heard to his own ears, as he dropped the little critter and watched it disappear up Allen's pant-leg, not wasting any time in retreating himself to a safe distance... in an entirely different room, where he was already working on his boots in case he needed to make a quick getaway into the outside streets to escape Allen's wrath when he awoke, which was very much a probable outcome.

_Any second now..._

At first, Allen stirred only slightly, murmuring some nonsense and huddling up into a tighter ball. "BaKanda stop..." He grumbled, turning onto his side and giggling, still asleep. "BaKanda!" His voice got a little more annoyed and soon enough he jerked away, quickly sitting up. "What the-!?"  
He tore the sheets off his body and kicked his legs, forcing the little offending creature to fall out.

The second he realized what the creature was, Allen let out a very un-manly ear piercing scream. Scrambling to the side of the bed, he fell down on the very confused Emil who didn´t know whether to scream or kill.

"GET IT OFF!" Allen yelled, slapping Emil on the shoulder. "DO SOMETHING!"

Emil sat frozen on the ground, with Allen in his lap, doing his best to keep a straight face when he properly saw the white-haired man's face. He even had to slap both his hands on his mouth to keep himself from bursting out laughing.

But Allen in the meanwhile noticed the redhead, crouched in the corner of the room having his own giggle fest.

"YOU!"

Lavi was having a hard time containing himself when, on cue, he heard a deathly, womanly screech, which could only belong to one person at the moment, just as he was finishing with his second boot.

He didn't make a break for it though. Not _just_ yet. He had to see Allen's face first, and boy did he ever. His _and_ Emil's as the other man was trying to contain himself from laughing as well. Lavi wasn't nearly as conservative, giggling aloud shamelessly at the spectacle that was quickly unfolding.

Oh, but that poor little mouse... clinging to Allen's clothing for dear life as the man flailed about. Who would'a thunk the 'White Demon' was scared by mice? Even if it was only attributed to the fact that he was half-asleep. It was still comedy gold.

"I-I don't know... _what_ you're talking about there, 'sprout!" he denied between fits of laughter. "-but it seems like... you've got a mouse problem in here!" He didn't think Allen was going to buy it, but he still denied it. For now. He managed to compose himself just long enough to catch some of his breath as he added, "Oh, and it looks like you got a little something on your face there! You should really deal with that."

The part he didn't add was that it was black Indian ink and no amount of washing and scrubbing would completely remove the traces of it for at least another day. Never underestimate the staining power of Indian ink... or Lavi's ability to prank people.

Now he was going to be in trouble with both of them. But it was _soooo_ worth it.

"CAZZO! And _you_ -… stop giggling!" He swore at Lavi and turned to Emil, smacking his head childishly. A sudden wave of dizziness overcame him shortly after that. "Aw man," Allen moaned, holding his head and slumping down on the now alert assassin.

"Are you alright?" Emil asked, casually taking the mouse's tail and throwing it away with no mercy, but not before shooting an acid glare at the redhead.

"My head is killing me," the Allen moaned, resting his forehead on Emil's shoulder. "What happened last night anyway?"

Emil's answer was another icy glare in Lavi's direction as he rubbed the white-haired man's face in attempt to get the black ink off. "Yeah, a good question, _kardesim_ ," he growled.

Oh man, Lavi hadn't had a good laugh like that in a _long_ time, wiping tears from his eye. He could still barely breathe, trying to stifle a few lingering laughs. He wasn't sorry. Not in the least. And he still wouldn't be when Allen recovered enough to try and kill him, especially when the face 'paint' didn't entirely come off.

"I told you yesterday to watch it on the alcohol intake, but _someone_ never listens to me," Lavi tsk'ed, waving a finger in a reprimanding manner. "The whole point of asking around for information is not to get so drunk you can't remember what was said by next morning. I had to carry your dumb ass home so you wouldn't keep going. Imagine how much worse the hangover'd be if I _hadn't_."

He smirked and folded his hands behind his head as he did an about-face, at the same moment noticing they had a slowly growing audience of assassins that had been woken up by Allen's girlish screaming and were confused as to if there was any sort of danger or not to be had.

Lavi's smirk grew wider. Oh, he was definitely going to milk this situation for all its worth. When he declared a prank war, he played hard-ball, and played it to win. And he was about to make it that much worse.

Somehow he'd managed to catch and keep the sometimes-affectionate and sometimes-not-so-affectionate nickname 'rabbit' but he rather liked to think of himself more akin to a fox, and not simply because of his hair color.

"The face-paint is for scaring me shitless the other day when you jumped off the Galata tower, and you should never start a prank-war with an expert like myself unless you're prepared for a counterstrike, 'sprout!" he informed. "Oh, and the mouse is for getting shit-faced drunk and almost getting me killed by your watch-dog last night when ya wouldn't stop clinging to me like a monkey! You seemed pretty desperate to have something in your pants, so I thought I'd accommodate you!" He burst out laughing even as he sprinted for the door at break-neck speed, knowing better than to stick around at this point for either his friend or Emil to kill him for real.

He was, without a doubt, going to get murdered _horribly_ , completely ignoring mercy, once Allen recovered enough to pursue him, but at least he was going to die with a smile on his face.

Allen was speechless.

Staring at the dust that was all Lavi left behind when he took off, his mind slowly soaked up the information the bookman just provided him with.

Clingy? Desperate to have something in his pants? Oh, how drunk had he been?!

"I-" He stuttered, looking at Emil - who was still trying to clean his face off the damn ink.

"He is lying!" Kanda's assassin protested, raising his voice.

That gave Allen a sudden, very evil and very unfair idea.

Letting out a dramatic sigh, he hid his face in his hands. "Lavi how could you!" he cried with a very convincing, shaky voice. "I remember! You molested me while I was defenseless!"

An outrage murmur from the bystanding assassin's was enough to make Allen grin sneakily.

"I knew it!" Emil said, finally ceasing his scrubbing. "GET THAT GINGER!" As if a lightning struck, the assassins began to sprint, looking for the bookman. "Don´t worry, my friend, we´re going to- why is your face like that?" Kanda's student asked, his brows furrowing in confusion.

"Heh," Allen smirked devilishly. "He wanted to play pranks. Now get me some hot water so I can get this stuff off my face!"

* * *

Lavi had no idea what Allen had said to the Assassin's, but he knew he'd said _something_ since they were all buzzing around town like a mob of angry bees after their nest was disturbed.

Already he'd dodged several throwing knives, a bolt, and two flying-leaps. Apparently he wasn't the only one who played prank-wars for keeps. If he were anyone else, he probably really _would_ be dead already at this point. So far it was only attempts and a few close calls.

He'd managed to lose their trail for the moment and barely peaked his head out of a covered street into the open, green eye scanning for anything to be immediately wary of. He was especially cautious of the rooftops.

"Geez... it's Lisbon all over again," he muttered to himself. All those thoughts of how giggly and adorable Allen had been the night before almost made him forget who he was _really_ dealing with. Lavi was a prankster, but Allen liked to cheat. "Damn you, Allen... this is really unfair, sicking your dogs on me."

At least he was in the clear, for now, but he wasn't going to be able to relax for a while. This was going to make his errands around town today a lot more troublesome. But of course he _had_ started it(kind of), so it really was his own fault. But he was still going to blame Allen for it.

When he saw that it was clear, he finally found one of the doctors in town to buy something and then made his way through the streets, still keeping alert. He began to walk again, but didn't fail to notice that he was being tailed, mentally groaning.

 _Don't know when to give up, do they?_ He pretended not to notice, casually walking until he'd rounded a corner, then sprinted like a mad-man and rounded another corner through an alleyway before they could catch pace and spot where he'd gone, like a hare in a warren, suddenly remembering why that nickname had managed to stick.

* * *

"Blast that damn ginger pirate!" Allen cussed, throwing away another piece of cloth he tore by scrubbing his face. The damn ink was impossible to remove! He is so going to give him hell for this. Damn Lavi and his stupid pranks. "Come on!" He was getting more and more frustrated by every minute he spent cleaning his face in vain.

A sigh escaped from his lips as he stared into the mirror. Momentarily forgetting the ink he took his time to study his face:

His eyes were still bloodshot from the lack of proper sleep, his hair appeared even whiter and he spotted some new wrinkles around his eyes and mouth.

Putting his hair up with his palm he eyed the scar that marred his face.

"I'm getting old..." He mused out loud.

"You are still beautiful, though," a voice sounded from behind him, jerking him from his musing. "I mean-" Emil stammered, realizing what he just said, scratching the back of his head to hide his embarrassment. "I know if my master heard me he would have probably skinned me alive - or anyone who as much looked at you, but it's true. Sorry, I'm making it worse." He bit his lip, staring at the ground. "Please don't tell my mentor I said that!"

Allen laughed, letting his hair fall in place. "Thank you."

"I have brought you something to help you cover the ink." Emil announced stepping into the room and taking out a small wooden box out of his pouch. "It is a powder women use but I figured it could help.

"And where did you get it from?" Allen teased, raising his eyebrow, a playful smirk playing on his lips. "Do you usually use it?"

Kanda´s student shook his head, squirming a little. "I... my friend gave it to me..." He trailed off, his blush visible on his ears.

"A friend..." The white-haired male slowly repeated, the teasing tone still present. "Of course!" He laughed, slapping Emil´s shoulder playfully. "Keep your secrets and your lady ´friend´. I´m happy for you. Thank her for me, will you? Now help me put it on, otherwise I'd be a laughing stock for every single assassin that sees me."

"It is not that bad," Emil offered but Allen's single look of ´are you kidding me´ was enough to silence him. "Well okay, it is..." He admitted, applying the powder on the other man's face. Soon enough, not a single trace of ink was visible.

Allen turned his head from side to side. "Lend this to me for a second." He murmured, taking the brush from Emil's hand.

By the time he was finished, Kanda's student was staring at him in awe. "This is... actually unbelievable."

"I would make a wonderful woman, wouldn't you say?" the white-haired male asked, putting the box on the table. "Funny how such a small thing makes such a huge difference." His face was flawless with his scar and wrinkles hidden. "I look like a completely different person." He mused, tying his hair into a low pony-tail.

A shadow fell on his eyes.

"Emil." The tone he used made the younger assassin sober up in a second. "I need you to do me another favor." The younger male nodded without any hesitation. Allen reached into one of his hidden pockets and produced an old silver key. "Make sure nobody follows you. Take this key and go to the Galata Tower. There will be a small hidden door on the top - use the key to open it - it is the easiest way in. There might be a few guards around, do what you will with them. When you climb down, there will be another door with the assassin sigil that leads to a small chamber and there is the thing I want you to get for me. Take a bag – I'd recommend a big one. Bring it to the den and hide it in my chest."

The assassin put a hand over his heart, bowing his head. "It would be an honor, _akardeshim_."

Allen smiled fondly. "Good. Now I will make a use of my good looks!" he joked, waltzing to a huge chest of clothes that stood next to his bed and took out a long silver and gray dress, a huge black scarf and a veil. "I am going to pry some knowledge from the city's heralds in the meanwhile and make sure they won't pose a threat for the assassins in the near future," he commented as he dressed up, fastening the transparent veil over his mouth and re-counting the money in his pouch.

"You really shouldn't walk like this in the streets." Emil said a little bit uneasily. Really, how dense can Allen be?

"No worries, friend!" The white demon assured him, flashing his hidden blades at him. "I'll be fine!"

Allen said his good-bye and walked out, leaving the frustrated assassin behind. On his way out he made a detour to the library, slipping the note to Kanda into Lavi's book.

All the note said was: "They know. Come back. -A"

* * *

Lavi yelped as a spot on a building wall exploded close to his head and he ducked out of sight, at the same moment several people scattered, running again. Damn it, that was close!

"Okay, now this is just excessive!" he shrieked, ducking underneath a parked wagon as soon as he was certain he was out of sight and waiting until he heard angry shouts and running pass by. He heaved a sigh and clamored out, dusting himself off once he stood.

He really needed to shake them a little bit longer if he expected to get anything done today. Unfortunately, he stood out like a sore thumb around here, since his reddish hair was highly unusual. Maybe he could use that to his advantage, though.

Walking along, he got himself a cloth to tie around his head and tuck his hair out of sight, and found a few people on the streets that looked and sounded like gossipers, spreading a few fake 'witness accounts' of where he'd run to. Let them chase a false scent for a while.

Of course his eye patch was still recognizable, but the head-wrapping would help. He could move a little more freely without being so easy to spot from a distance, at least.

Wandering along, and still being careful not to be seen despite his very slight disguise, he hit the tavern again asking for some information. New rumors or people in town, as well as a place or people where he could make a specific purchase. Once he had some of the information he was looking for, he ducked back outside, almost running straight into a group of assassins standing by the dock and talking to each other in hushed, angry frustration.

Lavi quickly turned and walked a little bit stiffly, slipping into the crowds and hoping he wouldn't be noticed. He got the feeling he was being watched, but after he disappeared around the corner and kept walking, nobody gave chase or tried to stab or shoot or throw something at him again, the redhead heaving a sigh of relief.

The first person he found didn't have what he was looking for, so he declined and moved on to the next. When they did have what he wanted, he happily paid for it and went on his way, before trouble could find him again.

He wasn't nearly as bothered now as he had been before, though. Why hadn't he thought of hiding his hair earlier? Oh, right, because he hadn't thought Allen would actually send _every freaking assassin in town after him_.

When he made it back to the den, he peered in closely and carefully, scanning the room from the barely opened door, but it seemed no one was in. He supposed they were all too busy hunting him outside to think to look for him back inside. At least, he hoped as much, his single eye scanning the rafters and beams above carefully, just in case. Nope, no one hiding above to drop down on him either.

Sighing relief, he stepped inside and pulled the cloth from his head, shaking his hair out. Funny how a group's own dwelling often proved the safest haven. So long as he didn't get caught and cornered before Allen could call them off. He'd still only gotten part of what he wanted to do done today, and it had taken him three times longer than it should have.

He rubbed the back of his head irritably and tried to see if there were any signs of Allen inside, but it seemed he was gone too. Perfect. Just perfect. The one person that was probably the difference between him and a hidden blade to the skull wasn't here.

"You're just hiding somewhere, yukking it up, aren't'cha?" he couldn't help but muse to himself as he ducked into the library, going through his bag of things and grumbling something that might have been curses and complaints, but it was in another language.

He noticed a piece of paper sticking out of a book and picked it out, reading it, and realized what it was. Fishing his own 'letter' out, he settled down to finish the rest of it, which took a short while longer, but he finally had it done. The only one left to get was Emil's... but he should probably wait for Allen before he did that. No doubt that man wanted him just as dead as everyone else right now.

Lavi sighed.

"I've heard of 'getting back' for pranks, but really Allen, this is just taking things way too far, you dirty cheat," he muttered to himself as he flipped a book open, deciding he'd read for a while until the man returned, hoping that he would do so before anyone else.

* * *

Allen thought people in this country were more reserved then those in Italy, but apparently, he was wrong.

He knew that the better the looks, the more accommodating people were, but this was ridiculous. In the few hours he spent digging out information out of various heralds he received at least ten proposals, three slaps on his ass(which he very much wanted to return with a stab to the offending hand but couldn't because of the deal he was making), and several wolf whistles. But at least the men accepted winks, alluring promises, and flirty words as payment - which resulted in keeping most of his money in his pouch. Those who were uncooperative had the honor of meeting Allen's hidden blade, which changed their minds pretty quickly.

Sometimes, threats worked better than anything.

Despite the numerous deals he managed to make, luck was not on Allen's side. None of the heralds have either heard or seen anyone out of place in Istanbul and that was what made Allen feel slightly uneasy. Whoever was sent to get him was very good at hiding himself. Not a single person met anyone asking about "The White Demon" or a person with Allen's looks.

Ah well, maybe it was enough searching for one day. After all, he managed to cover at least three or four districts in one go.

He entered the den just as the stars began to appear on the sky. Every single assassin he walked by made a double-take and either left or started to murmur some weird chant.

Weird... but he greeted them nonetheless and made his way to his room. Judging by the tired faces he would say the "hunt for Lavi" was over.

"Oh, hello there handsome!" he greeted when he passed the library. He couldn't help but smirk when he imagined how long Lavi had to hide because of the little rabbit open season. He walked to Lavi's desk and crossed his arms on his chest, waiting for Lavi's reaction. "How was your day?" He asked innocently.

Rather than immediately answer the question, knowing that Allen was merely pretending innocence, he responded, "You're an asshole, y'know that?" without immediately looking up from his book. Making a mental bookmark of where he left off, he smacked the book shut and looked up, only to freeze. Staring.

He mouthed, "What the-", but the sounds wouldn't come. He shook his head as if once he was finished, Allen would no longer be in a dress, but that didn't work at all.

"Of all the questionable hobbies you have, I think this one takes the cake," he finally deadpanned, running a hand through his hair. He sighed aloud, deciding maybe a change of topic would be best. "Anyway, what did you even _tell_ those guys? I'll have you know I almost got killed - _several_ times - today."

That made Allen burst out laughing. He unveiled his temporarily flawless face and untangled himself from the black scarf. "I did nothing!" He pouted childishly, "nothing I would regret, dear friend."

Oh Lavi´s turmoil provided more than enough entertainment. "Anyway," he continued, ignoring another of Lavi's stares as he raked his hand over his hair, loosening the pony-tail. "I haven't been sitting idle. I made sure that the heralds from the neighboring districts keep their mouths shut for the time. Free scouting for us." Allen quickly summarized the rumors and news from around the city - which was basically nothing they didn´t know yet.

Still ignoring the redhead's stare he reached for the book, flippantly turning few pages. "How is the letter going?"

Lavi nodded his head, though it was with notable disbelief.

"Sure, sure. It's always nothing... when an entire troop of assassins comes after your neck. Nothing at all." He poured every bit of sarcasm he had stored away into that tone.

He listened to Allen list off the rumors he'd heard and what he'd done today while Lavi had been busy trying to run his own errands and simultaneously dodging for his life, before coming to the letters, which Lavi would have brought up if Allen hadn't anyway.

"Mine is done, and I have yours. The only one I still need is Emil's... but with that dick move you pulled, I'm not risking going _anywhere_ near him." He rubbed his neck meaningfully. "I like my head where it belongs: attached to my body. Anyway, it might be too late to send them tonight, but I might still be able to catch someone who can deliver them at this hour. You can come with, if you want, after you change into something more..."

He trailed off and his eyes flicked up and down the other man, trying to stall for a moment, but he couldn't seem to think up an appropriate, finishing word.

Allen raised his eyebrow quizzically, waiting for Lavi to find his words. "Why?" He asked slowly, not managing to hide his growing smirk. "Not happy with my choice of attire?"

"Well if you're comfortable, then I won't talk you out of it," Lavi laughed, standing and going to his bag. "You go grab the letter from Emil, and then we can go see if anyone is still willing to take a delivery tonight, alright?"

"That's what I thought." Allen giggled, sticking out his tongue. "But I'm going to change anyways." Walking out of the library he waved his hand, winking again. "Then I'll go see if Emil has returned yet. Want to help me out of my dress or are we meeting up in fifteen?"

"I've already almost been killed _twice_ for anything that could be misconstrued as something it's not," Lavi said, holding up his hands in refusal. "You're changing out of that dress all by yourself."

Allen's loud and slightly evil laughter was the final warning to Lavi to think twice before playing any more pranks.

Not even ten minutes after that Allen was ready in his assassin outfit, fastening his vembraces on his forearms. The den was weirdly empty for this hour but he didn't pay any attention to it. He asked a few men about Emil but no one seemed to know anything about him.

Shrugging that off, thinking he probably ran into some difficulties during the mission he gave him, he scanned the room for Lavi.

Lavi caught the warning, but that didn't mean his little 'war' with Allen was over. Oh no, far from it. He would give Allen some distance for a while, and recollect his strategy. But he would, without a doubt, start it up again at some point.

As Allen left to change, he went to his bag, shuffling through it and tucking the letters safely inside before hoisting it onto his shoulder and waiting near the door, letting his mind go blank for a while as he waited. Or at least as blank as his mind ever got.

He smiled when Allen approached, nodding indicatingly.

"Ready?"

"Kinda... I don't think we're going to get Emil's letter tonight, though. Do you want to wait until the morning?" Allen asked, shrugging.

Lavi placed a hand to his chin in thought.

"We could... or send it separately. Or he could send it on his own time." He shrugged. "I'm not sure how important it is. Anyway, I have something else to do tonight anyway, and I'd like you to come along either way." He said, turning and leading the way, motioning for Allen to come along. "You can decide if you want me to wait or not on sending the letter on the way there, 'kay?"

"I guess we can send it later." Allen shrugged, "sure, lead the way. Gonna tell me where we're going?"

Lavi laughed faintly.

" 'going to show you where we're going, actually," Lavi said, taking to the dark streets, which were only inhabited by a scarce few stragglers who either still had work to do or were scurrying home. "So you can find where it is for future reference."

After a short while of walking, he stopped in front of a door, fishing in his pocket for something, licking his lower lip a moment in thought.

"I'm not gonna be staying at the den anymore," he finally announced, finding the key he'd been looking for and unlocking the door, stepping inside. It was large enough that it contained a desk and chair against one wall, a shelf above that, and a bed on the other wall, though beyond that, it was sparse, and only comprised of a single room, not counting a small bathroom. " 'found my own place to hunker down for a while. I don't want to bring you any undue trouble or be a mooch or anything like that, after all."

Besides, it would be better for everyone involved if he put a little distance between them again. A place that wasn't associated or too close to Allen. He was slipping; he knew that quite acutely, so this was necessary. He needed to keep his head clear. And his chest.

It took Allen a second - maybe a second too long - to react. He hoped he was able to cover his own disappointment. "Aaaw, did the guys chase you that hard? I hope they didn't discourage you much..."

But really, could it be because of this? Was this supposed to be some kind of guilt trip? But then again, maybe it was safer for Lavi to stay some time away from the men. After all, he still wasn't sure whether he was safe at all around Kanda's squad.

"At least we can have sleepovers now!" He joked, tilting his head in a childish manner.

Lavi chuckled and scratched the side of his face.

"We-ll... they've never exactly held me in high regard to begin with, but no, that's not why." He assured, before looking slightly more serious. "Well, not completely, anyway. On the subject of the other assassins though, I think it'd be better this way. They're focusing a lot on watching me because they don't trust me, and given the circumstances, I can't blame them, but it's also dangerous. The more attention and energy they expend towards keeping an eye on me around you, and what they think of-" he paused a moment and motioned back and forth between himself and Allen, "- _us_ , the less focus they have on your real enemies, and that kind of distraction can get people killed. That's the last thing you need right now."

He smiled, not intending on letting the mood fall too low, despite his words, as he reached out and grasped Allen's wrist. "Besides, it's not like I'll be hard to find either way," he mused, pressing a spare key into the man's palm. "If you need me at all, any time of day or night, if there's an emergency, or you just decide you're _Ooooh~! Sooo~! Lonely~!_ without me!" He mock-swooned dramatically for comedic affect, giving the other man an awkward one-eyed wink. "...you can just let yourself in any time."

Allen stared at the key for a short while and smirked. "I'll keep that in mind... Also, don't forget that you just showed me your last sanctuary. Don't go doing any pranks you might regret, my friend. I know where you live." He finished, intending to make it sound like a threat but failing because of his intervening laugh.

"Now that it just cruel," Lavi feigned hurt, placing a hand over his chest. "Don't forget, _technically_ you started it first! I only made the official announcement that the war was on," he grinned. He was making absolutely no promises he wouldn't prank Allen again. That was one of the things he couldn't resist, especially when it came to Allen. He simply hadn't thought of a suitable counterstrike yet.

Allen put the key into the pocket under the sash he wore around his waist. "Going to look for the messenger now?" Allen asked, his hand automatically going for the place where his pendant should have been. Finding it was not there made him panic for a second but then he remembered that Lavi had it. "You got the pendant, right?" he asked, maybe a little too insisting.

Lavi nodded affirmatively. "Don't worry, it's safe and sound with me. I'll send it tomorrow once you bring me Emil's part, alright? Now-" he laughed again. "You should probably get back, before they come looking and start getting strange ideas again. You know where I live, but technically they still don't. I'd like to keep it that way long enough that they forget about decapitating me. Or castrating me. Both would be equally bad." He made a face at his own words, before shaking it off. "Anyway, stay safe, alright?"

Allen nodded, checking once again for the key. "Alright, see you tomorrow then. Maybe I'll feel kind enough to call the assassins off." He chuckled. "Thank you and good night."

With a final wave he turned around and made his way back to the den.

Before he laid down he made yet another round around the den to make sure Emil has not returned - and as it turned out, he hasn't yet.

"Let me know when he comes back," he said to a couple of men that have just returned from their scouting. The complete lack of information about the younger assassin made the back of his neck tingle unpleasantly, but despite that, he forced himself to sleep.

The morning came faster than Allen would have liked. A firm hand on his shoulder shook him awake and his still not lucid mind made him think the hand belonged to Emil.

When he blinked the sleep away, he realized it was not him and that something was horribly wrong.


	11. Blood-stained Hands

He didn't even mind the weird looks and whispers directed at him as he slowly dragged his feet down the street, stumbling every now and then. Nobody called for help nor for the guards. Maybe he should have changed from the bloodied clothes before he went to find Lavi. Not that he really cared any more.

He was just so tired.

Soon enough, Allen found himself standing in front of the door of the house where Lavi currently resided. He didn't even have the strength to cry anymore. Rubbing the back of his bloodied hand on his cheek, he searched for the key the redhead gave him just few hours ago.

His shaking hand made him unable to fit the key into the keyhole which only made him more frustrated and helpless.

He hated it so much.

Allen slammed his fist on the door, letting out a pathetic, agitated mewl. "Open up...!" On the fifth time the key finally slipped in and he unlocked the door.

The room was still dark but he knew that the man inside was already awake and alert.

"Lavi..." He sobbed.

* * *

After Allen had left, Lavi was quick to get some much-needed sleep since he hadn't had any the night before. It wasn't like losing sleep was unusual but he really did love his sleep. Now that he was finally free of his harsh old man, he sometimes managed to get a few extra hours he didn't normally get during his apprenticeship.

He hadn't really done much of anything to unpack or get settled after Allen left. He'd set his bag aside against one wall, promptly collapsed onto the first real bed he'd managed to get into in almost two weeks - Allen's that one night before didn't count - and just as promptly passed out.

Of course, come next morning, he was woken by frantic pounding and demands to open his door, stirring groggily and rubbing his eye. He recognized that voice.

"Allen...?" he hummed sleepily, dragging himself to his feet and shaking his hair out of his face. Had he forgotten the key or something? Right about as he reached the door and was about to unlock it himself, the other man apparently beat him to it, the door almost hitting him in the face as it swung open and the white-haired man stumbled in.

The redhead was aware in an instant of Allen's condition, taking note of the blood on his clothes and look of exhaustion that went beyond physical. He cursed softly under his breath and only delayed a greeting and questions long enough to peer outside, scouring the street for anything he might need to see or, potentially even, fight off, that could have tailed Allen there.

Nothing leapt out at his attention right away, so he shut the door and locked it, placing either hand on Allen's shoulders steadingly, his single eye flitting over Allen's form, trying to discern if the blood was his or not and if there were any injuries that needed attention.

"Tell me what happened."

"Emil won´t be sending his letter," Allen said slowly, staring into distance. "Or any letter anymore." He paused, letting the statement sink in.

Lavi grit his jaw, knowing immediately what was coming after the first two statements. He didn't know the details that Allen only briefly delved into, but he knew the man was dead.

"We found him nailed to the house opposite the main den." He leaned forward, resting his head against Lavi's shoulder. "It was my fault... if I didn't send him alone, this wouldn't have happened..."

Lavi guided Allen further into the room to where he could sit on the edge of the bed, before the man possibly collapsed onto the floor. Retrieved a rag and getting it wet, he pulled up his chair to sit and started to clean some of the blood off Allen's skin.

"It isn't your fault that other people do horrific things to each other," Lavi sighed finally, having been trying to grasp at what to say, even though he knew most of the words would do no good. "-and blaming yourself for it won't do anyone any good or bring him back. Maybe it's not what you want to hear, but it's the truth. That kind of thinking just gets in the way."

"But why is it always that people close to me die?! I'm so tired of it! I don´t know what to do anymore!" He breathed heavily, gripping his head. "I am so tired, Lavi," Allen whispered with a hollow voice. "I am so tired of living." He looked back at Lavi, shaking his head. "You cannot stay here."

"People die every day everywhere. A good deal are murdered. It's not as though this is something entirely unique to you," Lavi stated coolly. "No matter what, everyone dies eventually in one way or another. If it wasn't Emil, it might have just been someone else entirely. Trust me, I know that all too well."

He tried not to think too hard himself on the sheer number of bodies he'd seen throughout his life as the result of another war, or another rebellion, or another massacre, or just plain murder, but if he had, the numbers would be in the thousands, at least. Maybe the tens-of-thousands. But he didn't let it linger in his mind long enough to recall the numbers. He never liked to remember just how much of it he'd seen.

"And anyway, I'm not simply leaving."

"No, Lavi, you don´t understand!" Just why couldn't he understand it!? "It´s him! It is happening again! The hunter in Italy, back then they were several and I thought I killed all of them but the same thing is happening now - they only killed the people I knew, the people I loved!" He was at the edge of desperation and he was about to fall any second. "I have to end this! But how? I don't even know if Kanda is still alive and it is driving me crazy because it is all my fault! If he had never met me, this wouldn't have happened!"

He shook his head again, standing up and pacing around.

"Kanda should have killed me back then. But I was too selfish to die - twice already, because I believed that everything would be fine! Ironic, isn´t it?" He asked, his voice trembling. "Maybe I really am cursed... maybe that's why my own father carved my face like this."

He fell silent after that and leaned against the wall, slumping down to sit on the ground and catch his breath. His head was spinning and his mind was foggy. Suddenly, an idea occurred to him.

But of course there was still a way to keep everyone from harm - a way to turn the hunter from the others only at himself.

How could he have been so stupid?

"I'm sorry, Lavi. I didn't mean to..." he apologized, his mind barely registering what the other was doing. All he knew was he had to get out. "I have to leave. I have to-"

Lavi hated to hear Allen going on like this. He really, truly hated it. Hearing Allen talk so suicidally and watching and hearing him be so hysterical left him with a sick feeling of dread. He always knew Allen to be a strong person, and seeing him so fragile and ready to break at the slightest blow hurt him a great deal to witness, even though he knew this was just a natural response to grief.

But _damn it_ he hated it. Allen had a right to feel weak, but the way he was going on and the way his thoughts were twisting went beyond just feeling weak and back into dangerous recklessness that was going to affect more than just him, despite that Allen was adamant to refuse acknowledging that.

He noticed Allen moving to leave, acting more on his raw feelings than real thought - despite that he figured the wreck of a man probably thought it was just the opposite - and stood up as well, crossing the room. Before Allen had time to open the door and flee, just barely getting the lock, Lavi put a hand on it to hold it shut.

"I'm not letting you go out there the way you are right now," he stated, in a tone of authoritative finality.

Allen recognized that tone very well: last time Lavi used it, he almost killed the man by accident.

He wanted to counter him. He wanted to leave, disappear from the surface of the city and become a hunter himself. But he couldn't. Something in Lavi's voice made him freeze. Back then Emil was there to keep Lavi off him, but the man was not alive anymore and he didn't have anyone to back him off, which would surely result in a fight. A fight he was not willing to start or encourage.

Especially when all of his friends are dying because of his stupid self.

Allen hung his head, breathing deeply. He was being an idiot all the time. A child. He knew Lavi was right all the time and he could not afford to be like this anymore.

But he needed to get away. He couldn´t stand the thought of Lavi getting hurt.

"You're right. I-I'm sorry." He sighed, squeezing his eyes shut and massaging his temples. He turned around walking to the bed again and sitting down. "Will you let me stay here tonight?"

It was an innocent question he knew Lavi would probably hate, but he didn't trust himself to stay on his own. Not this night. He had to mentally mock himself because of how pathetic he sounded - like an emotional woman, asking for protection. But he knew deep inside that he owed Lavi one final thing. A thing he had no chance of doing when they last parted. Their last goodbye, before everything descends into hell.

It was a gamble - but gambling was something he was never defeated in.

"I think I need some time to clear my head," he added, hoping Lavi would let him stay. "Will you send that letter?"

Lavi was simply glad that Allen didn't force the issue any more than that, despite that Lavi had been expecting more of a fight. But maybe he just didn't have the energy after what had just happened to fight. Not against anyone other than his prime enemy right now: the hunter.

He watched Allen carefully as the man wandered back to his bed to sit down, looking downtrodden and defeated, but maybe a little more clear-headed. That was a step in the right direction at any rate. The question was mildly surprising, but if Allen hadn't asked, he probably would have insisted anyway. Allen was impulsive even on good days. On days like this, he needed to be watched. _Closely_. Lavi didn't trust the assassins would do it.

They would defend Allen against threats, yes. They would fight for him, probably to the end, and have his back in that regard, yes. But they wouldn't hold him back, and that was what he needed right now. He couldn't go into a fight with a head filled to bursting with thoughts and feelings of grief and guilt and should-of's, but it didn't look as if anyone else associated with Allen had the sense to see that.

Lavi, however, knew better.

"Of course you can stay," he responded in a soft-edged voice, re-locking the door and crossing the room to sit beside Allen, rubbing circles in his back comfortingly. "And yeah, I'll send the letters off sometime today."

But not until he was sure he could risk leaving Allen alone, or take him outside. Either way boded potentially bad, if he knew Allen at all. And his gut was telling him Allen hadn't really given up on whatever his intentions were. Only that he would enact them at a later date once everyone's guard was down.

"Thank you," Allen sighed, raking his fingers though his hair. "I-" he started, taking a deep breath, "I can't go back there. Not today at least. They...they are... trying to-" he took another deep breath to calm himself down enough to continue. "They are putting his body together."

Lavi nodded in understanding, knowing now more than ever why Allen needed someplace other than the den to escape to. He'd seen such things himself plenty of times, but they were always people he hardly knew and didn't care for, and even then, it had taken a toll on his psyche. He could only imagine Allen's own horror.

Allen suddenly looked at himself, only now becoming conscious of the blood on his clothes.

"I think I need a bath," he added, wrinkling his nose. "I am sorry I made such a mess everywhere!" He said, the frustration and some remaining fragments of panic still present in his voice. "Mind if I use your bathroom?"

"Go ahead," Lavi nodded, motioning towards it.

Allen nodded once and walked to the small bathroom, closing the door behind him. Leaning against the door, he closed his eyes and heaved a sigh, listening to any sounds from the other room. There was a small stool in the corner, a bowl of water on a slender table and a mirror on the wall.

He slowly walked over to the bowl, shedding his clothes as he went, throwing them into the opposite corner. He only briefly stopped to stare at his face in the small mirror. Putting the bowl on the ground in front of the stool, he took some linen cloths from the table and sat down.

Bathing like this made him miss the Italian springs more than ever.

Taking the cloth and soaking it wet, he started scrubbing his arms, then his face, and later the rest of his body. He never minded the sight of blood, but this time, he couldn't help but to wince when he stared into the coppery water.

The blood was gone but he kept scrubbing and scrubbing, still not feeling clean enough. He only realized he went too far when he felt warm, sticky blood on the fingers of his good hand where his scarred arm had torn.

He dropped the cloth, his eyes never leaving the mutilated limb. With a shaky sigh, Allen stood up, retrieving his bloodied clothes from the pile in the corner, only to realize that he had no other thing to wear with him and the sleeve he usually used to cover his arm with was too dirty to use.

The white-haired male sat down in defeat, trying to come up with a way to conceal his limb before Lavi could see it.

* * *

While Allen went to get himself cleaned up, Lavi busied himself with settling in and unpacking his things, since he hadn't done so the night before.

He removed his folded spear and hooked it together to rest near his bed in the corner of the wall where it wouldn't fall. He took several books he carried with him out of his bag and set them up on the shelf on the wall, using a nicely-carved Renaissance ink-well as a stopper for the books, and a couple of small boxes. He had many small ornaments and sculptures from several cultures, that he set alongside, and some decorative dishes. Some were of people and human things, others of animals or mythological creatures. All were nicely crafted. A lute found a spot against the wall, upright.

A smaller vial of ink, another book, and some papers found themselves seated at the corner of his desk, as well as a stone mortar and pestal he often used to mix herbs or poultices when it became necessary. The letters that he'd safely tucked away were set in the center along with Allen's pendant, so he could send them a little later.

He left a couple of small weapons and cookware in his bag, as well as an empty water flask, but took out a few clothes and went through them.

Really, his bag was quite heavy, since Lavi travelled a lot to many places, but despite that his title as a Bookman might suggest he would sit around and only lazily read and study like any other kind of scholar, he did a lot of field work and was quite physically fit. Even so, he tried not to carry his bag too much if he could help it.

As he went through the clothes, a realization struck him. Come to think of it... Allen's clothes were pretty stained. He didn't imagine the other wanted to wear them, covered in blood, but he doubted the man had brought any spares in his grief and hysteria.

It was with that in mind that he went through to find something suitable enough that would be about the right size. He supposed it didn't matter a huge deal if anything was a little too big, but whatever. He settled on a plain, light-colored Kurta and pants.

The rest he packed away, before stepping to the door and knocking lightly, since it had been a while at this point and Allen had yet to re-emerge.

"You okay in there, Allen?"

The assassin jumped when he heard the knocking, almost kicking the bowl over. "Shit!" He cursed, catching it in the last second but some water still splashed out. " _Merda_! Yeah! I-I'm fine!" he stammered, picking up his clothes from the floor but it was still too late - they were already soaked with the bloody water. "Oh, come on!" He was really useless today. "Do you think you could lend me some clothes?" Allen asked sheepishly, still fussing over the mess he'd made.

"Already ahead of you on that one," Lavi said as he pushed the door open, a fresh pair of clothes draped over one arm. He rubbed his head but stopped as his eye wandered over Allen's form.

It wasn't that he was naked that had Lavi pause, but his single eye catching the discolored red of his left arm, which hadn't been that way when he'd last seen him in Italy.

It looked like a burn. A bad one. He'd also hazard a guess it wasn't properly treated when the man had first received it either, instead left to sit, for whatever reason.

He'd seen the sleeve that Allen often wore but hadn't thought much of it at the time. Maybe he should have though. Now that he thought on it, it did seem a little odd. It was sort-of the same as how he covered his right eye with a patch, though for entirely different reasons. His wasn't an injury, but most assumed it was.

Allen tensed when he saw Lavi in the door staring at his arm. He shielded it with his other, trying to cover it up as much as he could but failing.

"Well that's new," he mused, nodding faintly, though there was no judgment or demand in his voice, only acknowledgement and traces of curiosity. He wouldn't pry, though. If Allen wanted to tell him about it, he would. If not, he wouldn't. It really was a matter as simple as that. It did look like Allen might have torn some of the scarred flesh though.

Holding the clothes out for him, he added, "You should let me take a look at that if you've re-opened something. Otherwise it could get infected."

Dodging Lavi´s look with his eyes, Allen silently took the offered clothes and nodded.

Lavi exited to the other room to let Allen dress in privacy after handing off the clothes and instead took a seat on the bed, waiting. Thinking.

He knew Allen had quite a few scars on his body. He'd seen them when he'd treated the wound Allen had sustained to his abdomen almost two weeks earlier, and just now as well, but he'd yet to see the arm until now.

Seeing how Allen tried to hide it ashamedly, he could easily guess why.

He wasn't sure if it had been an accident or something deliberate. He didn't think accident, because of how Allen acted, but all the same, maybe he just didn't like others to see it because of how bad it looked. Most people were incredibly judgmental about appearances, after all.

He noticed Allen still refused to look at him when he re-emerged, and Lavi suspected something, but he didn't demand to know. Demanding answers would mean he might get questions of his own to answer, about things he couldn't talk about. Of his own secrets he kept. He didn't push those kinds of boundaries.

"Sorry about the mess," he apologized, still not meeting Lavi's eyes. Unwrapping the linen cloth that he'd bound his arm with, he carefully poked around the wound. It felt weird to know it was there and not feel a thing.

"It's fine, I can clean it up in a minute," Lavi dismissed, reaching out and carefully taking Allen's hand as he motioned him closer, delicately feeling up the limb, taking note of the roughness of the scarred flesh, places where there were pits that heat had eaten away, spots where the scars had opened and re-healed. It looked somewhat fresh. No older than a year, he guessed, but no newer than a couple of months. He was being careful at first because he didn't know how sensitive it was, but seeing no reaction from Allen that might have been pain, he made his touches progressively more firm. "Can you feel any of this?"

Allen huffed, slightly relaxing.

"No," he answered, rubbing his forehead. "I haven´t felt anything since well... since it healed. Sometimes it is a pretty good advantage, you know. Doesn´t slow me down when someone hits me. Pretty handy when I'm defending myself, even if it sounds a little bit morbid." He managed a weak smile. He couldn't help but think of how many times he sacrificed his own arm to protect the rest of himself. Allen knew it was pretty suicidal, but nobody ever managed to hit his artery or anything important. "It´s fine really," he commented, seeing how carefully Lavi was treating the wound. "You can stab it and I still wouldn't feel a thing."

Lavi nodded, pursing his lips in thought, looking troubled by Allen's words.

"You should be more careful than that. I'm pretty sure you're lucky not to have lost it entirely to gangrene and had it just rot off," Lavi informed. "I'm serious here, don't be reckless with it, otherwise you might end up with worse than not having an arm left."

He rubbed his temple wearily, slightly exasperated. Really, how foolish could Allen be? It was bad enough that it looked like it hadn't properly been treated when he'd first received it.

"When you wash it, do so gently, so you don't reopen it, and you should be using oil on it regularly to keep it from drying out, which will help keep the scar tissue from tearing too. Lavender oil should do the trick and help reduce possibility of infection and sepsis as well."

The assassin laughed heartily, nodding. "Sorry, it's just weird," he said when he saw Lavi's look. "I'm not used to such fussing. But it is really alright - you could even open it up if you wanted to, you know, look around. Okay, that sounded even worse." Allen chuckled nervously, shrugging. "I really have no idea why but the arm is fine despite everything that has happened to it. Not that I have... taken advantage of it too often." He added quickly, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

Suppressing a tired yawn, Allen sobered up.

"So, are you going to send the letter now?"

"If you say so," Lavi hummed, straightening up and retrieving his boots to slip on, nodding. "Yeah, I can have them sent off now. You can even come with me, if you want," he said. He paused to glance at the man. "Or you can stay here and take it easy, if you'd prefer. I won't be long. Your choice."

"I think I might use some sleep. I don't trust myself going out like this," Allen said, flexing his hand. "If you don't mind, of course."

Lavi nodded. "I understand," he sympathized, though he was watching Allen carefully. He seemed to be doing better, but still weary, not entirely back up to himself again. But that would take time and a kind of healing that medicine and remedies couldn't give him.

"Oh, and what are we going to do about that boy?" Allen asked, suddenly remembering the boy from the smithy. "Will you let the blacksmith know that I want my armor delivered?"

Maybe he could use this to his advantage somehow. If he kept Lavi as busy as possible, he could still check on the thing he sent Emil to fetch. Emil still had the key on him, so there was a high chance it might still be in place.

The second question caused him to pause. It wasn't as if he couldn't do it, but it would take longer. He wasn't sure about leaving Allen alone that long. Not just because of what he was worried about Allen himself, but he still wasn't sure if the man had truly not been followed. And it wasn't the other Assassins he was worried about having tailed him here.

"Yeah, I can do that too, if you want," he said finally, retrieving the letters and going to the door. "It'll take a little more time though."

"Please do. It would be for the best to talk to him alone, after all." He graced Lavi with a warm smile, patting the bed absentmindedly. "You mind if I use your bed?" He asked, trying to hide the slight excitement that spiked thought the body when Lavi didn't protest. His mind started racing right after that, throwing him images and thoughts about the hunter that was after him - especially how lucky he would be if he met him along the way - how he would enjoy tearing his throat to shreds.

Allen breathed in deeply, forcing himself to calm down. No, it wouldn't work like that. Not yet. Not while he still didn't have proper equipment.

"Yeah, 'course it's okay," Lavi assured with a dismissing sort of wave. He caught hints of a look he wasn't sure he liked, and for a moment he almost reconsidered, but he stopped himself from doing that.

 _You're not his babysitter, you're his friend, and you shouldn't even be that much,_ he reminded silently, forcing himself to move. If Allen decided to sneak off, really, what could he do about it? It wasn't his place to get involved, yet all the same, somehow he still managed to, up to a certain point at least.

Hell, he even got his own room away from Allen to keep them at least somewhat separate, and in only one day, the man managed to wander back and convince Lavi into letting him stay. Fate or God or whatever other force drove the world really had a twisted sense of humor.

He sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. It couldn't be helped. Allen had just lost two people to murder in less than a week. From what he could tell, the only ones in town that brought him comfort on any kind of interpersonal level. At this point, that only left Lavi, at least until Kanda showed up. Funny how he, probably the only person in the _country_ right now, who couldn't get close to anyone, was having to be a source of comfort for someone else.

He really didn't care that Emil had died. Maybe it was cold of him, but it was true, and it was necessity. He'd seen far too many corpses than he thought a person rightly should have throughout life to let one more affect him, and he didn't get close to people. He'd gotten very good about keeping everyone at a distance.

Allen was the only true exception to that rule, and he intended to keep it that way. He had never meant to get close to Allen, either, not as a friend and certainly not as almost more than that, but there was always one unpredictable variable, one wild card, that couldn't be accounted for.

Allen was that wild card.

Shaking it from his mind once he reached the docks, he scoured up and down them for a suitable messenger for his letters, eyeing people and ships alike. He was in luck. He recognized one of the ships, smiling to himself. Time to get down to business.

Lavi was glad to find the ship that he did, greeted by the captain, a dark-skinned Algerian man who offered him a grin and a companionable hug as he spoke in Arabic. Lavi was friendly with him, striking up some brief conversation as the man teased him that he would be the only fool with red hair to step aboard a ship. Lavi sometimes had a hard time finding a ship that would take him, or had to cover his hair entirely, since it was often seen as an ill omen amongst seafarers. Gadiel was, luckily, not such a superstitious man, and a valuable connection to have.

He asked to see the man's " _special_ wares" so they could speak more privately below deck, and managed to talk him into taking the letters for him, despite that it would be going slightly out of the man's way to deliver them.

Of course, it did help that he knew some valuable information that the man would be interested in. Something that would help the trader possibly come into a bit more wealth than he usually dealt in, and no shortage of smooth-talking to seal the deal.

Once he was certain the messages would make it safely in Gadiel's capable hands, he took the ferry across the water and sought out the blacksmith, as per Allen's request. Not to his surprise, the guy seemed to be in the same foul sort of mood as before. Lavi guessed it was simply his perpetual state of being.

"He said five days, and I've only had them for two," the man growled from where he was working. "I don't change the number of days once they're set. You tell him three more. Three more days, and he can have them back! Until then, I still have work to do on them."

Lavi only nodded, straightening up. "Fair enough." Lavi didn't take the time to point out that he hadn't actually said they needed the boy to deliver them _right now_ , just that they needed them delivered once they were done, rather than picked up themselves. How the guy managed to stay in business was up to question. It certainly wasn't because of his sparkling personality, but the Assassin's took personal stock in him as an ally, so he guessed that it was simply the quality of his work. "Thanks for your time."

The man grumbled something at him, but he didn't catch it, and didn't ask for a repeat. He didn't think it was anything worth hearing anyway, probably just irritable complaints about one thing or another.

Having done both the things he set out to do, he turned and made his way back, even as he caught a glimpse of a recognizable figure out of the corner of his eye. It seemed that he still wasn't trusted to his own devices. Had Allen sent them to watch him, or were they acting on their own? It really could be either one.

Either way, it didn't matter. He was only focused on getting back and making sure the white-haired man was actually still there when he returned.

* * *

"Take care then..." The assassin piped in innocently at Lavi's retreating back, waving his hand.

Allen exhaled loudly as he heard Lavi close the door.

Now, it was his turn to take care of some business - and hopefully he will manage to do it before Lavi comes back. He counted to six-hundred calmly while he dressed.

After he was done he opened the door and slipped out, immediately climbing the wall to get on the roof. He was ready to dash off but he was stopped by a small group of assassins.

"We know what you want to do," one of them spoke up, making Allen frown.

"Go back to the den and don't follow neither me, nor him." The white-haired male said with a low voice.

"We swore to protect you and we will fulfill our duty, whether you like it or not. We don't care if you push us away - we promised our mentor to keep you safe, and since the hunter is going after your closest friends, we will be watching the redhead as well. He is the best chance to get to him at the moment."

Allen grit his teeth.

"Go back! Your mission is over. I don´t care what Kanda ordered you to do!" he threatened, his temper flaring again. Why wouldn´t they just leave him be?! They were making themselves into marvelous targets, and as if that wasn't enough, they wanted to use Lavi as bait.

"No," another assassin stepped in, "our mission just started."

Allen growled in frustration and dashed away, trying to force himself not to care. He noticed that only one of the assassins was following and thankfully keeping his distance. Soon enough, the man jumped down from the roof, blending into the crowd on the street.

The run to Galata Tower thankfully didn't take him too long, and as if luck suddenly decided to stand on his side, there were only few guards milling about the tower, not really paying attention to their surroundings.

Once he climbed up, he crouched in front of the little door, examining it for any damage. Finding that the door was untouched, Allen unlocked it and slipped in.

Taking care of the guards inside was a child's play, and not even five minutes after entering, he stood in the hidden chamber, fiddling with the lock on an old, silvery chest.

What he found inside made him fall backwards and cry out in horror. The heavy coppery stench of blood immediately filling the room.

There in the chest, on the top of his once stark white and silver armor, lay a human heart.

When Allen looked up, he saw the note nailed to the lid of the chest saying: "HIS BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS"


	12. Thank You For Everything

Allen made it to Lavi's house before the bookman could come back. He washed his hands again, hastily scrubbing the blood away for the second time that day.

He was still shaking.

He threw the cloth into the bucked, as if it burnt him. He had thrown the heart away but he couldn't take the armor with him. He had to rest. He desperately needed to clear his head.

Laying down on Lavi's bed, Allen curled up in a tight ball in hope that his body would finally stop trembling.

This time, the nightmare-filled sleep claimed him almost immediately.

* * *

Returning to his place, Lavi found Allen still there, relief that he knew he shouldn't have felt pricking him. All the same, he felt that something wasn't entirely right as he locked the door and stepped further in, pulling off his boots. Allen was trembling and moving listlessly in distress, but asleep. Nightmares, he realized immediately.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he tried to shake the man awake by his shoulder.

"Allen, wake up."

Allen jerked awake with a startled cry, gripping Lavi's hand. He stared at the redhead in confusion as he tried to catch his breath. Lavi waited for Allen to regain some of his bearings once he was awake. He knew Allen had nightmares. He'd had them sometimes when Lavi knew him before, but they were rarely so violent. He couldn't help but wonder how often Allen had them, but he could set the question aside for a short while.

"I-I'm sorry-" The assassin stammered, letting go of the hand. Taking one last, deep breath to steady himself, Allen inquired about his errands. "Did you find anyone to deliver the letter?"

Hopefully, Lavi would not notice anything wrong.

"Yeah, don't worry. I found someone to take them." After a moment, he added, "Someone very capable. They'll get there safely. Anyway," he hummed, watching Allen critically. "Are you okay? You're really pale."

"I-I´m fine! Really, no worries... I just had a...um, a bad dream. Nothing to worry about," Allen quickly assured him, plastering a smile onto his face. "Someone reliable, eh? That's good, that's good. So, what are we going to do now?"

He needed to distract him somehow... the quicker the better...

"Y'know you really are a bad liar," Lavi jibed somberly, not the least bit fooled and not that easily derailed from a subject or made to forget. People didn't have nightmares that badly over nothing, and he wasn't afraid to say it like it was. "If you need to talk about it, you know I'll listen." He gave Allen a meaningful look, before turning his gaze elsewhere. "All the same, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine too. It's not like I'm going to force it out of you, but don't insult my intelligence. I'm here for you either way you want to take it."

"It is nothing. Really." Allen smiled. "It´s just me being stupid. Please, just forget it." He sighed, rubbing his forehead.

Sure as hell he's not going to tell Lavi about the little "gift" he received. His heart started to race in his chest every time he thought about it.

"What about the armor by the way? Will the boy come?"

Lavi nodded and leaned back slightly, propping himself by one arm and instinctively rubbing Allen's back comfortingly with the other. Allen wouldn't talk about it, but this much he could do, at least.

"Yeah. In three days, when the armor is done, he said," the redhead confirmed.

"Good, good. So, dinner?" Allen asked, feeling even worse when Lavi comforted him after he lied to him. He started pacing around the room. "But anyway... you should talk to the boy alone. It is safer that way. I'll come to get the armor from you. But I was thinking - maybe it would be better to talk to him as soon as possible. The information he seemed to be hiding could be very important. Oh, and how long did you say the letter would take to arrive? I hope not too long..." Allen ranted, glancing out of the window every now and then. "Did you see any assassins, by the way?"

"The blacksmith was very insistent about three days, since he said it will take that long to finish the armor. I don't think we're going to get much better than that. The letter will probably take a week and a half to reach where it's supposed to go, so maybe three weeks to a month before we hear back. And yeah, your friends still don't seem to trust me. Haven't yet taken their eyes off me. 'saw one of them following me earlier," Lavi explained, his single eye following Allen as he made small laps around his room. Allen obviously wasn't doing alright, despite his words, but Lavi didn't draw attention. "And yeah, we can do dinner. Do you want to eat here, or...?"

Allen grit his teeth. Of course they wouldn't listen to him when he needed it most! Damn those assassins! He will have a _looooong_ talk with Kanda after he comes back.

Or _if_ he comes back...

The white-haired male glared out of the window, cursing under his breath.

"Oh, sorry," he murmured when he snapped out of his momentary agitation, "Yeah, can we eat here? I don't feel like going out anymore." Definitely not going out when the hunter still lurked around. He had been outside with Lavi for way too long for his liking. "I will pay you for the food later."

Lavi nodded understandingly.

"Alright, I'm gonna run out and get some stuff for us to eat. It shouldn't take me long, so just sit tight, alright?" Lavi informed, working on his boots. He left to buy a few things and returned within the hour, thinking that maybe dinner would help Allen's mood pick up anyway, joking "I have returned with sustenance!" as he came back with the food, handing some off to the white-haired man. Nothing terribly fancy, but still good and hot. Hopefully the warm food would help him sleep better, too.

Allen accepted the food with a smile and a polite nod.

He was incredibly hungry since he hadn't eaten anything since the previous day but even despite that he couldn't bring himself to eat with his usual enthusiasm.

It wasn't as if he had never seen gruesome scenes full of blood and severed body parts or something in that sense but he couldn't get the image of the heart out of his head. He had seen cruelties that would make a regular person stop eating meat for a long time and he never felt anything, but after receiving an actual human heart as a gift was a little too much even for him.

He could still feel the blood on his hands.

"I'm done," Allen said after finishing only a half of his portion, excusing himself from Lavi's company and closing himself in the bathroom again to calm his racing heart and mind down.

Lavi was glad to see a slight spark return once he brought Allen food, but it was only a spark, and it faded fast. Allen was still too troubled by whatever was going on, and probably by his own thoughts and fears, to really enjoy it. To not even finish eating at all and instead excuse himself to find some privacy. And for Allen, that was saying a lot. A lot more than most people.

Lavi knew Allen hid a lot behind words of false reassurance and masks. He could understand that to some level because, in a lot of ways, he was the same. He was always having to lie and wear masks of one kind or another, to the point that the line between the real 'him' and those masks were blurred even to his own mind. It went beyond what was natural and normal for most people even though everyone technically put on masks to some degree to protect or hide something. He'd been training himself to be that way for so long for his job though, he really didn't know any other way to be. Allen was somewhat the same in that regard, though for wholly different reasons, but Lavi understood it.

It was a necessity neither of them could simply break out of, so Lavi didn't try to force him to, only tentatively reminded the other that he'd be there to listen if or when Allen felt comfortable enough to expose whatever was bothering him rather than hide it. He'd talk when he was ready, and no sooner.

Lavi finished his own meal and set Allen's aside in a container for if he decided to come back to it later, and made himself more comfortable with a book while he waited, kicking off his shoes. At the very least, he was a patient person, so he would give Allen as much time and space as he needed, so long as he didn't do anything recklessly stupid and endangering. Likewise, if Allen needed closeness and an ear to listen, he would provide that too.

Alllen came out a good half an hour later, his typical ´nothing-is-wrong´ mask in place. "Sorry!" He chirped in but said no more to explain himself. "Uhm," he started unsurely, looking around. "Where did you put my belts and the pouches?" he asked, staring at Lavi.

Lavi mentally marked his page and flipped the book he was reading shut, standing up to replace it to its proper place. He pointed just behind Allen.

"They're right next to my bag there," he directed. After he put the book back to its shelf, he sat on his bed again and pulled off his bandana, shaking his hair out and raking it back with his fingers. "Anyway, you should probably try to relax. It's been a long day. I can even give you a massage or something if it helps?" he offered lightly, smirking. " 'works wonders on the mood."

Allen chuckled but shook his head. "I have to decline," he said, making a bee line straight to his things. "I have something better than that."

He rummaged through the pouches, taking out the components and things he would soon use. When he was done, he wrapped his sash around the belts and put the bundle on the floor, fully aware of Lavi's eyes still trained on him.

Taking his time to properly put together the components of the tool, Allen turned around to show it to his bookman friend. In his hand, he held a straight, ornate pipe with carved dragons.

"I might have developed a few bad habits over the years..." Allen said, stuffing the pipe with tobacco. "But this stuff is really worth it.

Lavi watched Allen curiously, mildly confused as to what Allen was talking about at first, but once he saw what Allen held and what he was stuffing it with, he understood. He knew what it was: a Chinese pipe. His old mentor had one of his own.

At Allen's comment, he laughed lightly.

"In all truth, I think I'd be more surprised if you _hadn't_ picked up some kinda bad habit, other than just gambling, after dealing with that master of yours," he teased.

He had noticed how carefully Allen had wrapped his things, but it wasn't his business. Maybe it was nothing, anyway.

Allen chuckled.

"This has actually nothing to do with my master," he said. "This is all Kanda's fault." It was supposed to be an accusation but he said it with far too much kindness.

"Oh yeah?" Lavi chuckled. "So he's an asshole as _well_ as giving you more bad habits! Sometimes I wonder about your tastes." He smirked and propped his chin with one hand.

Allen laughed at that. "You know I was always into bad-boys." He said, eyeing Lavi teasingly.

There was just something about it that drew Allen to them. Lavi was no exception. Maybe it was because his father's upbringing and Allen trying to change himself to a better person.

But Kanda was very special. He was a once-in-a-lifetime man, with his oriental features, strength, and way of living. He was the mysterious, dangerous man whose presence always filled the room and a single look of his dark eyes made others bow their heads in shame.

But Allen would say none of it out loud. There was no need. Once Kanda comes back, Lavi can make his own opinion of him.

Smiling under his nose, the assassin lit up the pipe, kindling the flames with a few short puffs until he was satisfied with it.

With a long and very concentrated drag, Allen closed his eyes and slowly exhaled, making the smoke look much thicker than usual. He could immediately feel the pleasant tingle spread into his fingers and on the back of his neck.

"Hey, I'll have you know I am _very_ well-behaved!" Lavi retorted, pretending to be insulted for a moment, before the dirty look quickly slid from his face back into an easy-going, yet mischievous, smile. "-...when it benefits me, anyway, but there's situations where it doesn't always." Like when he'd snuck a mouse into Allen's bed, _just_ to hear that ungodly screech of terror when the man had awoken. Even if it had brought him trouble for the rest of the day, it was still worth it. He would pay money to hear Allen scream like that and see the look on his face all over again.

"I still haven't forgiven you for the damn mouse," Allen grumbled pointing the pipe at Lavi, as if reading his mind.

"Hey, you already got your payback!" Lavi whined. "Besides, you started it - _technically_ speaking - when you jumped off that tower. You should know better than to do something at my expense and not expect me to take that as a personal challenge," he smirked cheekily. "And I already told you what the mouse was for." His smirk broadened into a smile, though he deliberately left out mentioning Emil, since he was pretty sure that was still raw territory that was best not tread on this soon.

"That doesn't change the fact that you are an asshole," Allen retorted, sticking out his tongue. "Putting a mouse in my bed..." He grumbled. "Want some?" He asked, holding the pipe to Lavi.

Lavi eyed the pipe as Allen offered it to him, not immediately going for it, but not declining either, seeming to weigh the option in his mind for a moment.

"You just want to make fun of me when I choke on it again," Lavi jibed, taking it from him. "But sure, why the Hell not. Life's not an adventure if you don't try new things, right?"

He took a drag himself, though he managed not to sputter again, only mildly coughing, not entirely used to it yet. Despite his broad education to the workings of the world, he tried to avoid substances that could turn into bad habits. Drinking was one of the few he indulged in, and even then, he didn't like to get more than buzzed. It messed with his head too much otherwise, which he needed to keep clear for his job.

He laughed slightly at this point. "It's not bad, once you get the hang of it, but this ain't right, you dragging me into bad habits now too! I'm the older one, these roles should be reversed!" he kidded playfully, offering it back.

"Bad habits be damned, I got addicted to this for an entirely different reason..." He trailed off, with a dreamy look on his face.

The images of Kanda leaning over him, taking a long drag from the pipe in a dark room lightened only by a single candle and then releasing the smoke, momentarily disappearing behind a white veil, then re-emerging from it, only to capture his lips in a kiss, flooded his mind.

Allen forced himself to push the memories back, clearing his throat.

"I could do this for hours..."

"Well, we got plenty of hours for it, if you want," Lavi pointed out neutrally. "I got nothing that needs doing." Technically he had studying to do, but that could wait. It didn't matter anyway when he got to it. There was always a never-ending amount of more studying and work to be done.

"I just want to relax, really. I think I´m going to sit on the roof for a while. You're welcome to join me, of course." Yes, sitting on the roof and smoking was a perfect way to clear his head properly.

"Nah, I think I'll just hang out down here," Lavi shrugged, adding in a deliberately nervous voice, more for comedic affect than actual worry, "Where it's safe. From your attack dogs. After all, I'm not forgiven yet." He laughed faintly.

"God, in whom I don't believe, protect them if they come near this place," Allen grumbled, biting the pipe. "I'll be out then."

He climbed out of the window, using the hook to get himself up.

The day was just coming to an end - the sky was dark red on the west and beautiful blue on the east with few of the silvery stars already outshining the sun's light.

Allen kept smoking slowly, enjoying the coolness of the fresh night until he dozed off. What woke him out of his dreamless state was the sound of his pipe clattering on the roof. Standing up and stretching, he climbed down and carefully entered Lavi's house through the window.

He found the redhead sleeping on the bed with an open book on his chest. Typical. Allen chuckled and as silently as possible, he took the book and put it on the table. When he came back, he sat on the bed, cautious not to wake the bookman.

Seeing him like this - asleep and vulnerable - brought the image of the heart atop his bloodied armor back.

Allen leaned forward, placing his hands on either side of the man's head.

"Be careful," he whispered, finally giving in and pressing their lips together.

Even tired as he was, Lavi was a light sleeper, humming softly against the lips that pressed into his as he started to stir.

His green hue slid open, but his half-asleep mind still took several seconds to catch up with reality, and when it did, he stiffened and snapped up abruptly with a noise of surprise, managing to knock heads.

" _Ow!_ Jesus, Allen, don't ambush me like that!" He massaged his temple and eye tiredly, sighing out a groan as his forehead throbbed dully and his eye stung faintly from sleep. When he finally looked back at Allen, confusion etched his features. "Just what the Hell was that about, anyway? You're not drunk again or high, are you?" he questioned warily. "Because I happen to like where my balls hang, and I'm pretty sure your friends were very determined to make sure I don't keep them the last time you started doing that." The words sounded like banter but he was actually quite serious.

Allen couldn't bring himself to smile. Not this time. Pressing this now slightly throbbing forehead to Lavi's own, he let out a sigh and closed his eyes.

"Please, be careful!" he pleaded quietly, biting his lower lip. "Promise me."

Lavi blinked, more awake now then he was a second ago.

"Um... y-yeah, Allen, of course. I'm always careful." Maybe he didn't act like it all the time, but he was. Chasing wars, battlefronts, genocides, and massacres, one had to be, if they expected to survive. He was trying to figure out what this was about, but his mind kept winding back to the same conclusion. His voice dropped into a low whisper. "You're going to leave, aren't you?"

The assassin smiled gently, touching Lavi's cheek with his left hand. "People come and go..." His voice was still in whisper. "I don't want to bury your body as well. I can't anymore. No one else."

Lavi tried not to let this bother him, but it did. A lot. He couldn't help but be troubled, but he tried not to let it show.

"Your concern for me is touching, really," Lavi said softly, smiling faintly and pulling Allen into an embrace. "But that's not going to happen, I promise you. I don't say that just out of arrogance or bravado. I know you're scared, but 'Bookman' isn't just a meaningless title, you know. I know how to handle myself regardless of the danger. I'm not reckless... like _some_ people I know," he gave Allen a pointed look. "I'll be fine. The one thing I do better than chasing and finding trouble is avoiding it when I need to. You don't have to worry about me, even though I know you probably can't help it."

More seriously, though he hadn't been joking or making false statements before, he added, "I don't want to have to bury your body either..."

 _Anyone else but you,_ he added silently, but the words wouldn't come.

"-so just... don't be a dumb ass, alright?" He knew he couldn't stop Allen from going through with whatever he had in his head to do. Slow him or delay him somewhat, maybe, but Allen was never dissuaded once he got something into that stubborn head of his. It was one of those insatiable traits he both loved and hated about the damn fool that somehow managed to make him care about outcomes.

"Can't promise that one," Allen said weakly, hiding his face in the crook of Lavi's neck, breathing in. "Not this time. But I will try my best. You are still free to leave and not take a part on this." He said, looking the redhead in the eye. "I know you are not going to do it but I will still try."

Allen shifted himself to lie on the bed next to Lavi. The embrace was just so warm and calming, yet very foreign for some reason. He hasn't been properly embraced since Kanda left.

He looked up again, sliding his hand on the side of Lavi's neck.

"Please stay," he said, feeling the other man's breath ghost over his face. "For the last time..."

"I won't be leaving so soon. I'd make for a lousy bookman if I always ran away and hid every time things got tense," Lavi assured with a little laugh, shifting to get more comfortable and wrapping his arms around the small of Allen's back.

He liked having Allen close like this, sharing in each other's warmth and scent, finding little nooks and spaces to fit against each other in the darkness where it was just the two of them. It had been a very, very long time since he'd had Allen all to himself like this, and Lavi never really let anyone else get so intimate with him. It was only innocently holding each other, filling up the loneliness and need for the comfort of another and human contact, but for someone who wasn't even supposed to have emotions for another person even to a small degree, it was still incredibly intimate for him.

He didn't need anything more than this from the other man, nor did he want it. Just feeling the rise and fall of the other's chest, the feel of hip bones pressing flush, unmoving but still there, hands around his back or touching his neck and his face with care, and breath ghosting softly over his skin, forgetting the rest of the world for a while so that all that existed was _them_ , was more than enough to make him content.

And for all the buttons he liked to push, there were certain lines he would never cross. He couldn't give more than this, so he would never take more than he could give.

"Besides," he hummed quietly, trailing off indecisively as he pursed his lips, looking as though he was having a moment of internal conflict. He craned his head forward, stopped short for a moment, then returned the kiss that Allen had started. Only a delicate peck, tender and reassuring, but somewhat hesitant, as if maybe he wasn't sure that was okay to do, but not bold enough to ask for further permission by keeping contact for more than a couple of seconds. "Someone has to make sure you don't do something irreversibly stupid, what with that insatiably stubborn reckless streak of yours."

"Thank you," Allen whispered, tentatively touching Lavi's lips with his finger. "For everything."

He relaxed his body, exhaling a long breath and closing his eyes.

For the first time in a long while, Allen slept well. There were no nightmares filling his head, but neither were the dreams. His sleep was filled with a calming velvet darkness filled with warmth and contentment.

Lavi merely hummed acknowledgment. He felt like he should say something, a million different possibilities of what to say coming to mind, but none of the words would form on his lips. Maybe it didn't matter though. Maybe he'd said enough that he didn't need to say anything else. Maybe he'd even said and done too much already as it was.

Allen was already drifting off anyway, and he needed his rest, so the redhead merely rested his chin on top of Allen's head, affectionately petting his white hair to help lull him, and for his own comfort as well.

He didn't find sleep as quickly, staring out the window into the night thoughtfully. The fact that he was currently going against everything he was meant to be - apathetic and uninvolved - was on the forefront of his mind. His old man would be severely pissed if he could see 'Lavi' now. It wasn't as though he didn't try to remain at a distance, but somehow he still couldn't help caring when it came to Allen. He'd barely admit it even to himself, but the path the assassin was determined to keep going down had him legitimately worried about the man's survival.

 _Really now, lecturing me about being careful,_ he thought incredulously, pressing his lips to the top of Allen's head. It really was somewhat of a sick irony. _Just who do you think you're talking to? The one those words should be directed at is you, you damn, reckless, martyr-complex._

It couldn't be helped. That was just the way that foolish man was, and had always been. Closing his eye, he wasn't far behind in falling asleep, cuddling him close snugly and possessively. At least, for the moment, he could rest easy knowing he had Allen with him for tonight, warm and safe in his arms.


	13. Weight of the Casket

The next morning was pleasantly lazy and Allen had a hard time making himself leave the warm embrace that Lavi provided.

Somewhere in the back of his brain, an image of Kanda stared at him with his dark and unforgiving eyes, but he didn't feel guilty. He missed and craved human touch so much he couldn't bring himself to regret his decision to stay with Lavi for one last time.

Allen knew Kanda would understand.

He got up slowly, first savoring the warmth of the bed and the body next to him, then slowly extracting himself from the embrace without waking the other man, smiling as he gently pried the arm that the redhead snuck around him sometime during the night.

Carefully sitting up on the bed and stretching, he yawned and stood up, going right to the bundle of things he left on the floor the previous day.

He looked out of the small window, enjoying the morning sun as he was tying his red sash around his waist, fastening it with the belts.

After checking on the pouches and bags and adjusting his clothes and hidden blades, Allen turned around, ready to leave the house.

Lavi technically awoke earlier than Allen, but he couldn't be bothered to move. Part of it was that he didn't want to wake the other man. Part of it was that he just didn't want to.

So he let himself drift back to sleep, more than once, so long as he knew that Allen was still there next to him.

He was aware of Allen moving and standing, but he pretended not to notice, only listening to the faint sounds of movement around his room with eyes closed. He caught the rustle of fabrics and the latching of belts and other things, and silently debated to himself whether to keep playing possum and let the man leave unconfronted, or to wake up and talk to him first. He really had no idea if Allen would simply be going back to the den, or if he was leaving entirely, so he settled on talking.

"Leaving so soon?" Lavi hummed teasingly, yawning and rubbing his single eye open. "You don't have to sneak out, y'know."

Allen stopped, but only to put a pleasant smile onto his face. It wasn't like he was leaving for good, even though he felt like that.

"Duty calls," he lied as he turned around. Okay, so maybe it was only a half lie. "Have a few things to take care of."

Like manning up and taking care of his bloodied gear - courtesy of his hunter.

Maybe he felt so unsure because what he was about to do felt like walking back into the lion's den after getting lucky. And the possibility of finding the hunter waiting for him still didn't help much.

Would Lavi laugh at him for being so frightened? Would anyone?

Allen would laugh at himself for sure. It was just another human, just like anyone else, yet it scared not knowing who that man was. The roles were always reversed in his case and he got used to it too much. He became proud, cocky even.

But pride comes before, so maybe he is already falling.

"I'll see you soon," he added weakly, snapping out of his musing as if he was struck by a whip.

"Just be careful," Lavi cautioned, sitting up and massaging the back of his neck, fixing Allen with a pointed look. "I won't be terribly happy if I hear you've done something reckless and stupid, you know."

It wasn't his place to interfere, and he wouldn't stop Allen from going wherever he intended. He'd stepped in before because the man had been in a fragile state of mind that could only end in disaster if Lavi had let him go unchecked. He looked better now. Not entirely healed from the things that'd happen - no, the wounds of grief would take longer than that to close - but more stable and clear-headed. That was the most important part, and as good as he could hope for this early.

"Don't take on more than you can handle on your own, is all I'm saying. It's better to take your time to do things right, then to rush into them and botch it. You might save more lives asking for help from others than you will trying to take the whole world onto your shoulders by yourself, even if it doesn't seem like it at the time."

Whatever Allen chose to do with that advice was the man's own business. It was just that; advice. But he offered it up anyway so it was there for him to think about none the less.

The assassin smiled in return, giving Lavi a small wave with his hand. "Yeah, I will. Thank you," he said, proud of himself that he managed to hold his voice on an even level. "For everything."

He casually entered the already crowded streets, carefully eyeing the surroundings, checking for potential danger. He was glad to find that he could neither see, nor feel anything unsettling around himself. Blending into a crowd of chattering people, Allen once again made his way to the Galata Tower, only stopping to buy some ingredients for new bombs.

Getting into the tower was child's play, as always - the guards outside were too bored to pay attention what was going on around them and the ones inside too grossed in the gossips to notice a white-clad assassin stroll by over their heads. Allen wasn't in the mood of leaving any more bodies around, so he decided to let the guards go away only with a nice lump on their heads.

Using a cape of one of the soldiers, Allen retrieved his tainted armors and headed straight to the most deserted part of the river he could find.

It was as if the blood on the fabrics was mocking him - it just wouldn't go away. He scrubbed and scrubbed, soaking it in the icy water until he couldn't feel his hands anymore, but the blood would still stay. He almost gave up.

After a good three hours of scrubbing Allen was finally satisfied enough to pack the things up and lock them up in one of the rooms under the assassin's den.

Next thing on his list was even more depressing than washing his friend's blood off his gear - and that was funeral.

This time not one, but two at once.

Dragging himself to the white mezarcı - the assassin's embalmer, gravedigger and basically the man who takes care of the bodies of his dead comrades - Allen found out that the funeral was already arranged and that his fellow assassins are meeting up on the outskirts of the city to burn the bodies.

And as if on purpose, right as he was exiting mezarcı's workhouse, five assassins caught stopped him to announce the place and time of the meeting.

Allen spent the evening mutely staring into the warm flames licking the corpses of a young boy and a man who died too soon.

His eyes were dry and itchy but the tears wouldn't come. Not anymore. He wanted to say his thank-yous to his brothers-in-arms who took care of the rites, to those who came by, offering a comforting touch or those who murmured their apologies, yet the words didn't come.

He stood there, watching the bodies burn and it felt like he aged another thirty years.

* * *

"You've said that. Twice, already." Words spoken to an empty room at this point, since Allen was already gone. "You really know how to _not_ put my mind at ease when it comes to you, saying things like that."

He knew better than to believe the man when he tried to pretend things were alright and there was nothing to worry about. That was usually when he had to worry the most. It wasn't his business to stop anyone though. He was an outsider in all of this, an observer looking into a world he wasn't supposed to be a part of. Whatever came out of it, he was meant to watch and record. Nothing more.

Sighing aloud, he stood and went to get himself washed and properly dressed, donning his embroidered kurta and scarf, and slicking his hair back, other than a few strands to frame his face, looking more professional than he usually bothered with. He had his own things to attend to today. Leads of his own to explore that didn't require Allen's presence. Looking well-dressed and important usually helped such endeavors.

The last thing he did was segment his spear so he could fold it into a smaller bag he attached off the back of his pants, just in case he would need it, but not wanting to tote it around out in the open. He also hid away the hook-blade Allen had gifted him with, thinking that it might come in handy if someone really did come after him. He had promised to be careful, after all.

Setting out, he decided to try the tavern again. He needed to find out where to find his first lead, so he went for a small drink and some coin exchanged for a few more pieces of information, finding out where the scholars supposedly after immortality were holing up. It wasn't hard information to find with just the right amount of coin slid the man's way.

He was aware of being followed - still - as he went, but he paid the assassins watching him no mind. It wasn't as though they were going to leave him be any time soon anyway, and trying to change that would do nothing except make him come across as more suspicious. Instead the man focused on finding the location the barkeeper had given him, knocking on the door to the scholars' place of residence.

The greeting was not very warm, the men seeming irritable and hard-pressed to believe the bookman's "interest" in their search was for real. Of course, talking his way in was easy. He had quite the silver tongue when he wanted, putting on a convincing act that he _genuinely_ believed in their goals and wasn't just another local heckler come to ridicule and make fun of their asinine ideas of what was possible.

He spent a good few hours with them, enjoying some cups of hot tea and listening to them ramble on and on about their "discoveries" and all of their findings leading up to searching for their goals for real. Lavi played into the role of the enthralled listener convincingly well, answering whatever suspicious questions came his way about his own background and what had "led" him into believing in the same things they had. He was partially honest about his background, but he didn't explicitly bring up his affiliation as a Bookmen Clan member, only that he had been raised by a scholar of a sort himself and was well-traveled and educated. Some of the details he included were true, others were contrived to cover up the parts about himself they didn't need to know.

All the while, he was looking about the room for whatever tiny things might seem out of place, watching and listening carefully, trying to find discreet hints that this immortality-search business was only a cover for something else less innocent. It wasn't as though he expected to get the information directly, that he would have to read between the lines where they thought he couldn't, but he was picking up nothing. They seemed to truly believe in what they were searching for, exceedingly passionate about what they were talking about and going into far too much detail than he thought someone would bother with if it were simply a cover.

If they were also acting, they were very good at it. Good enough to fool a Bookman, if such were the case, and to be _that_ good at lying was highly unlikely. Next to impossible, really.

Lavi was good at sniffing out and discerning deceit, since that was what his entire lifestyle revolved around.

Having decided to himself that they had no ties to the Hunter(s) that were after Allen, he worked his way towards goodbyes steadily until he could manage to leave without arousing suspicion. It had taken him a long while and many hours, but he had wanted to be thorough.

When he left, it seemed the assassins had momentarily given up tailing him.

His next lead was the priests that had arrived, but he could save that for another day. He could take in and retain a lot more information than most, but he knew to pace himself. There was still only so much a person had the mental capacity to keep up with all at once, even for a trained mind like his, before things got lost somewhere. He knew he was at his limit for the day. Pushing it too fast might mean he'd miss something vital, and this was too important to let that happen.

Calling it quits for now, he decided to go and find Allen, hoping as he did so that the man had actually bothered not to skip town entirely. He didn't think the assassin would, but he didn't entirely discount the possibility either. He'd said he would wait for Kanda's reply before going ahead with doing anything, but that didn't necessarily mean he wouldn't act sooner if he thought it better that way.

When he found him, it was at a scene he knew far too well. Burials and funeral pyres were just as commonplace in war and other, similar atrocities as the battles themselves were.

He wrinkled his nose slightly at the smell of searing flesh. It wasn't the sort of smell that was kind to the senses, the way cooking meat for food was. It was a wholly different kind of scent that no one would ever enjoy, and certainly not when they knew where the smell was coming from. He tried not to let it be too immediately obvious though, not wanting to come across as disrespectful.

He hung back for a moment, not sure if it was really his place to be there, but ultimately decided it didn't matter either way, coming to stand at Allen's side. He thought about saying something, but figured Allen had probably heard enough from others apologizing and trying to console him to fill him up to bursting, and didn't know if more of that was what Allen would want to hear.

So he placed a hand on the man's shoulder silently, just letting him know that he was there and ready to listen or speak if that was what he needed. Or more likely, _when_ he needed it.

"Sometimes I wonder what it would be like," Allen murmured silently, "to lie there." He looked to the side then, as if the sudden thought physically hit him. "Sorry, I didn't mind that."

The red fires crackled menacingly when the burst of wind blew by. Allen inhaled deeply as he hugged himself and bowed his head.

"You don't need to stay here, Lavi," he said, hoping that the redhead would get the hidden message behind those words. He just needed some time for himself.

He has been needing that a lot lately.

"I imagine it wouldn't be like anything at all," Lavi mused quietly. Corpses had no discernment. There was no difference to dead bodies between a proper funeral and being left to scavengers to pick apart. "These kinds of things aren't really for the benefit of the dead... they're more for the closure of the still-living."

As far as he was concerned, it was the universal truth. All, both the highly religious and the Godless, saw necessity in these sorts of rituals. It wasn't because it was those who had passed on truly needed it or cared any longer what became of them.

He gave the man's shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"Anyway, when you're done here, I think we should talk. Not just you, but the other assassins as well... about how to proceed with counter-measures." Maybe it was a little harsh to be asking that so soon, but the murders had only been spaced two days apart. They needed to act quickly, or else it could, and more probably _would_ , happen again.

Allen stared at the flames for a good while as if he didn't hear what Lavi said. Many thoughts filled his mind then, but none of them made any sense.

"Yeah," he replied weakly, still not meeting Lavi's eye. "Tomorrow."

Just not now. Just not when the fire is still burning.

Lavi opened his mouth to say something, but stopped short. After a moment of thought, he simply nodded, sighing through his nose.

"Tomorrow, then," Lavi agreed.

Should he go, or stay? Even if Allen said he wanted him to go, that didn't mean he truly wanted that, or that he didn't need Lavi there. At the same time, maybe space was what he needed most of all. He wasn't sure which was the better option, so he decided to simply ask.

"Do you want me here, or is this a 'need to be alone' kind of time?"

"Go," Allen said, raising his eyes to stare at the dark sky. "Just go."

Lavi decided not to say anything more, knowing better. Allen's words weren't a request. They were more of an order. He was under no obligation to actually follow them, but he did as he was told anyway, silently willing that the man stay safe. Not be so distracted by his grief that he let danger sneak up on him.

He had no reason to go to the Assassin den, so he returned to his own place.

Were truth be told, he was somewhat glad for his own solitude. Of all the places in the world to be, funerals were his least favorite. It wasn't that the one bothered him. Two bodies, much less of people he barely knew, was nothing to him. But being around the sight and smell of burning corpses brought with it a flood of memories, recollections of every other funeral burning or burial he'd witnessed in his life.

He'd seen it too many times before. Sometimes it was a single body. Sometimes it was mass graves, piled by the tens, if not the hundreds, all at once.

Reading would do him no good, so after dinner, he tried to sleep, closing his eyes and mentally counting the numbers of casualties like most said to count sheep. It was morbid, but it helped. Dehumanizing every death down to mere, meaningless numbers on a page kept his mind blissfully unsullied by the full weight of how truly horrifying it was.

He would admit to himself that it was callous, and other people would probably be disgusted by his apathetic attitude towards it, but few had actually had to live with the reality of seeing and personally _recording_ in detail that much death. Detachment was how he kept himself sane. It was the only reason he had survived his job up to this point.

A Bookman could not grieve and sympathize with every blot of ink he put down on a page. They were only the scribbles of a pen to him, and for him to stay true to his path and work efficiently, that was how he had to be. Collected, logical, and not swayed by human emotion or bias.

He found sleep easily and without trouble in his dreams, waking the next morning relatively early. Cleaning himself up, he did some reading over breakfast, then decided he would go and check on Allen and the assassins. With any luck, nothing else tragic would have happened by now, but with how things had been developing recently, one could never be too sure.

* * *

Allen heard the fading steps, but he still didn't bring himself to care. Time alone is what he needs.

To say his good-byes.

Allen sat on the ground until the moon sailed across the sky and hid in the west. The fires have long since gone out, leaving a blackened ground and a pile of ashes which the first wind carried away just as the sun broke the line of the horizon.

He looked upwards again, counting the few stars that still fought to stay visible. One particular thought rang louder in his mind.

It was a thing Kanda told him back in Italy when he stood by the pyres and watched the body of his youngest student burn.

Kanda told him that every time someone he loved died, a star would appear on the sky - a bright star only visible to him and no-one else and it would shine until the sun climbs to the sky entirely.

And at times like these, Allen felt like there is too many of them up there.

Quiet, hesitating steps brought him out of his reverie.

"Good morning," came a tentative half-greeting, half-question.

Allen turned around to see an older white man with sandy hair and glasses standing nearby, nervously shifting his weight from one foot to another. The assassin didn't react at first, which made the man scratch the back of his head and squirm.

"I know you might not be in the mood right now, but..." he trailed off, looking like he was searching for the right words. "…you may feel better if you talked about this to someone." He gestured to the two blackened placed in front of him.  
Allen frowned, sitting deadly still on the cold ground. Seeing his reaction, the man promptly put his hands in the air and shook his head.

"I just want to help. You look like you'd need it," he offered timidly with a sad smile.

"Do we know each other?" Allen surprised himself with how raspy and dull his voice sounded but he managed to hide it. Another surprise came when the man nodded and his smile grew somewhat brighter.

"You might not remember me, but I couldn't forget you even if I wanted to. Your hair is very unique and beautiful. I've never seen anything like it!" He said. "You bumped into me on a street once." A chuckle followed. "You were not very... let's say, clear minded at the time."

He stepped closer to the mourning assassin, offering his hand.

"My name is Apolo. Apolo Cristaldi. I am a priest."


	14. News from the West

Allen returned to the den at midday, feeling lighter than ever. The priest was right - saying things to get them off your soul really helped. Especially when the chances of meeting the person you're talking to again are almost nonexistent.

The den was full of men who had enough of the daily heat and decided to hide here until the night falls. Seeing that, Allen remembered what Lavi had asked him the previous night. He told the men to let Kanda's assassins know about the meeting and went to his room, collapsing on his bed. Now to wait for Lavi to come.

Or should he go get him himself?

Allen sighed, already half-asleep. He'd just wait.

* * *

When Lavi arrived at the den, he poked his head in to find it more heavily occupied than usual. The heat might've had something to do with it.

Hoping that he was no longer a target for the group of assassins - had Allen ever actually called them off? - he entered and kept somewhat alert in case such was still the case, plastering a outwardly friendly and inwardly please-don't-try-to-maim-and/or-kill-me smile on his face.

Finding Allen's room, he craned his head around the frame from just outside, glad to find him there, alive and safe.

"Hey, Allen-buddy, I'm not gonna have to wake you with extra company in your bed again, am I?" he teased. He, of course, wasn't referring to himself, but couldn't help casting a glance over his shoulder in case his words might be misunderstood by someone else still intent with seeing him gutted. He was sure that it had something to do with such misunderstandings before, even though he didn't know for certain what Allen had told the other assassins.

Allen stirred, thinking the voice trying to wake him up was a part of his dream at first. After his mind realized it was not that, he jerked away, abruptly sitting up on the bed.

"Oh, hey Lavi," he said, still somewhat disoriented. He looked at the redhead and smiled, partially happy that the assassins were keeping their distance this time. "Ready to talk?" he asked, tying his disheveled hair into a small ponytail.

"Yeah, ready whenever you are," he nodded, straightening up. "Well... whenever you and your friends are anyway." He motioned toward the other room with his head. "Feeling better?"

Allen nodded and walked out, heading downstairs.

"A lot better, thank you." He smiled.

The hall downstairs was already filled with assassins and when they walked in, the murmur almost immediately died down. Of course, Allen stubbornly ignored the glares Lavi received from Kanda's men.

"Thank you for coming, everyone!" Allen started, drawing the attention to himself. "As you might have heard, my friend here-" he gestured to Lavi on his side, "-had an excellent idea that could help us find the hunters that came to the city. I would like to hear what your opinions are on this matter."

Lavi nodded as he followed, more or less used to the looks of distrust. No use in dwelling on it or drawing attention, the redhead immediately launching into his plan for those around him to hear.

"It's pretty simple, really. There's a phrase that goes _the enemy of my enemy is my friend_. All we have to do is get those who would normally be your enemies - the Byzantines - to form a temporary alliance, just until the killer is caught." He could tell that already the idea was not being well-received, but he continued regardless. "Since the Byzantines have their hands full with contending with the Ottoman, they're the least ready to be able to handle further enemies. All we have to do is convince them that this rogue killer is a big enough threat to them to take interest. Make them think this person threatens their territory. We already have all of your allies on alert, but it's probably going to take more than that, hence using the Byzantines, and it's a good idea to do so in case the killer might think of the same, before they have the chance to do so. Of course, this also means you'll all have to lay a little lower than usual, and play nice with them, meaning no raids or fighting until this whole problem is dealt with."

"And why should we accept orders from you?" one of them demanded.

"I'm not giving orders," Lavi shrugged. "I'm giving advice. If you don't want to take it, then don't. It's your call, but not taking it into consideration might get more people killed."

He let that sink in for a moment before continuing.

"Anyway, there are a few things that need to be done. First, the other dens that the Byzantines claimed, that you haven't had the manpower to take back yet, just completely forget about them. Let the Byzantines have them for now. No one should go anywhere alone - that means you too, Allen - and I'd recommend groups of no less than three at a time, for reasons that should be obvious. Timmy and Emil were both picked off while by themselves, after all, and with any luck, your enemy is probably working alone, or with only one or two others, and they can't afford to make a scene. As for the Byzantines, since the enemy is likely an assassin from elsewhere, you should establish a very discreet, but recognizable signal of some kind. The Byzantines should be made to agree that anyone who doesn't use it if confronted, or does it improperly, be arrested and handed over to all of you alive. At that point, it'll be up to you guys to discern if they're a threat or not."

He wasn't sure how much they'd like what he was suggesting, but it wasn't his business what they wanted to do with the information. It was only his place to provide it and let them choose how to proceed.

"Mind you, this isn't a fool-proof plan, but it will make it harder for whoever is after the Assassins to act, so at the very least, even if it doesn't allow you to catch them, it will make the chances of being the next casualty significantly smaller."

The assassins looked thoughtful, glancing at each other every once in a while, trying to find out how many are for and against without any words. Allen stepped in then.

"As Lavi said: it is not an order. Take this as a precaution - never leave alone, you don´t need to take a part on the plan, but I beg of you, please don´t go running around on your own." He hung his head in defeat, breathing in deeply. "I don´t want to watch another pyre burn." He added silently.

"All of us are going to take part on your plan!" echoed from the back of the room and all heads, some surprised, other amused, turned to see who that was.

Lavi surveyed the group in silence. At the very least, no one wanted his head on a pike for the suggestions, though he hadn't expected the response would be as extreme as that. It seemed at least one among them liked his idea a bit more than the others.

"An' here I was thinking that I was going to get booed and heckled off-stage," he laughed faintly toward Allen, his own eye following that of the gathered group.

Allen stared at the man with his mouth gaping. "Master Tiedol..."

The elder man smiled, nodding his head in a greeting. "Nobody is booing anyone out of here. The situation is nothing to joke about," he said, the kind smile he directed at Allen vanishing from his face as he looked around the room. "Not to mention your plan might help us gather some valuable information about the Byzantines here. But what is more important at the moment is the hunter, or hunters, I keep hearing about." He looked at Allen again, pushing his glasses a little bit higher on his nose. "We need to be very careful."

The assassins who wanted to protest quieted down when Tiedol spoke. None of them dared to oppose the senior assassin.

When he moved to meet Allen and Lavi in the front, Kanda's men immediately flocked around him, eager to hear some kind of news about their master.

Allen on the other hand looked as if he was having a mild panic attack.

Lavi was of course watching the man and taking note of his characteristics. He was older and looked somewhat unkempt, but not in the way of someone who was lazy and unhygienic. More in the way of someone who kept himself too busy with other things to worry much about appearance.

That wasn't to say he looked bad though. There was a certain charm to the way he kept himself and a fatherly kindness in his eyes. His appearance and accent immediately gave away that he was French, and the redhead quickly figured from his words that the man was someone that would be easy to work with and get along with. Someone with good sense and wit.

" _Bonjour, monsieur_ Teidol," he greeted, smiling. "I haven't seen you around before now, but it seems you're no stranger here," he noted, watching the reactions of the assassins and Allen, whom he put a steadying hand on the white-haired man's shoulder.

Tiedol nodded again in greetings, his hand shooting to the back of his head. "Aah, _bonjour, jeune garçon, bonjour_!" He replied with mild surprise underlining his voice. "That's because I have arrived only yesterday. The rumors, however, were hard to overlook." He gave Allen a very pointed look.

Lavi nodded understanding, smirking at the man's surprise. He supposed it hadn't been expected of him to know the language.

Kanda's assassins then stepped in, showering the older man with questions in a language that sounded like a mix of Chinese and snippets he couldn't recognize, even vaguely. What language was that...? He'd have to ask, later.

Tiedol only stood there, not really listening to any of them. A short command in the same language silenced them. "I will talk to you later. First, I need to talk to Allen here."

Hearing that, Allen's heart skipped a beat and jumped into his throat. For some reason, he awaited the worst. Lavi glanced between Allen and Teidol, wondering if this aforementioned discussion was a private one or not.

The older man nodded to the side and walked off, only waiting long enough to see whether the two would follow.

Allen followed him without a second thought, his mind blocking out everything but the man leading him to his own room. The sound of blood rushing though his body rang in his ears, drowning out every other voices.

Did Tiedol meet up with Kanda? Was the man alright? Did he know who his hunter is?

Many more questions swam in his head but once he stepped in his room and found the man facing him with his arms spread wide and mouth turned up in a gentle smile, all of them disappeared and he gladly ran forward to accept his hug.

"I'm happy to see you still alive, my boy," Tiedol said, releasing the younger man from the hug to properly look at him.

"I'm glad to see you too, sir!" Allen said, gripping the man's arms. "Have you met him? Is he alright?"

A shadow fell on Tiedol's face. "I'm sorry, my boy, I have not. He only sent me a letter - urging me to return to Istanbul to keep an eye on things." He sighed and his eyes fell on the ground. "The letter was dated a month ago but I received it two weeks later. I haven't heard of him since."

Allen was speechless. Kanda sent a letter to ask for help a month ago. Which meant that something must have happened to him in Italy and that-

"He's alright," Tiedol suddenly interrupted, cutting the thread of Allen's progressively depressing thoughts. "Something might have happened but he is definitely alright. Don't worry yourself," he said as if he read the younger one's thoughts.

Allen nodded but he didn't seem very convinced.

The older assassin stepped back and crossed his arms on his chest. "Now we have more important things to worry about - that is your safety. Your friend," he looked to the entrance, scratching the back of his head, "is an excellent strategist. Are you an assassin as well?" He asked.

Lavi followed behind, lingering to see if he would be asked to leave, but it seemed that wasn't the case. What was apparent though was that Allen and the man knew each other, decently well, if he were to guess. As he heard them continue from his spot nearer the doorway, he started to piece together how and why.

That the man was part of the Assassins, or a supporter at the very least, was obvious. He guessed that this Kanda person and Teidol were connected somehow. Perhaps Teidol was his mentor? Then again, Lavi wasn't sure how old Kanda was, so perhaps a friend... or family or something. But Kanda didn't sound like a french name at all so he guessed otherwise.

He smiled when he was finally addressed properly, appreciating the compliment. He knew already that he was a good strategist, but he still liked the ego-boost of acknowledgment once and a while.

"No, nothing like that," he said, dismissing the notion of being an assassin. "You can call me Lavi, or just Bookman," he introduced, offering his hand. "It just depends on how formal you want to be, but I answer to both." He'd since dropped the 'Junior' after moving up in rank and no longer working directly under the Bookman that had mentored him.

"A bookman, eh?" he mused. "I heard about you a thing or two. This is my first encounter, though." He stepped closer to the redhead, offering his hand. "Froi Tiedol. Nice to meet you, Lavi." He tilted his head then, rubbing his mustache with the other hand. Glancing back at Allen, who still seemed to be in a mild state of shock, and then back at the bookman lad, he hummed. "I don´t presume you were sent here for the same reason I was."

"Well I wasn't _sent_ here, per se. I was just passing through looking for my next job, looking for history that might be unfolding. I figured this might be a prime place to find it. After all, interesting events often tend to unfold around the Assassins." He nodded towards Allen. "Plus, he and I are good pals from a number of years back. It makes things a little easier when you already know someone, after all."

He turned his eye back to Teidol.

"And what of you? What's your story?" Lavi had a keen eye, and he could tell that this Froi Teidol person was well travelled. People had a certain look about them when they had seen much of the world and different places, and he might have been just as well traveled as any Bookman of his age, were the redhead to guess at all.

He was interested to learn anything new the man might have to offer. True, Lavi had grown up under a grumpy old man for most of his life, but he'd never lacked respect for the wisdom that age and experience brought, and was always ready to be taught if he didn't already know something. Emotions were forbidden to him, and that included arrogance. _Especially_ arrogance, because one stopped learning and became dull in the head if they had the attitude they had nothing left to learn.

"Oh, a friend from Allen's side then! That's why I haven't heard about you yet. Yuu surely wouldn't keep a person like you secret." He said more to himself than anyone else and nodded thoughtfully, still stroking his moustache. "You are right about the history part, my lad. Things tend to get interesting around us." Tiedol let go of his hand and sighed in amusement. "As for me, I am just and old man ready to retire from the Order of Assassins. I'm just travelling around and enjoying life now." He said calmly. "Occasionally picking up potential recruits along the way." He laughed, shrugging and stretching his arms casually. "I don't think I am going to reach retirement when things like these happen though. Looks like I will have to deal with this ´hunter´ of yours, dear Allen."

Allen's face twisted in a painful grimace as he shook his head. "There is no need! I can-"

"Now, now." Tiedol interrupted him a calm voice and a raised hand. "Yuu would be very cross with me if I didn't. Now, my lad," he turned to Lavi. "I'm open to some extra tasks if you come up with some. If you have an extra plan, don't be afraid to tell me."

Allen sensed the man trying Lavi, but said nothing to see what the redhead would do. He knew that despite telling him that they were friends, Teidol still had his doubts - just like Kanda would have had. Tiedol played the ´nice old man´ to see if Lavi could be one to trust.

He was curious what would convince the old assassin.

"Well besides what I already said to the other assassins, about using the Byzantines to help us, I've also been doing a little bit of digging around town," Lavi shrugged. "Allen and I went to find rumors of newcomers coming from the west, Italy primarily; scholars looking for immortality, priests new to the city, and traders. I already followed one of those leads, the scholars, but it was a dead end. Talking to the priests is the next order of business. The traders, unfortunately... even if the hunter is posing as one, it's going to be incredibly difficult to pin them down in a port city like this one."

Likewise, he was testing out Teidol, not out of potential distrust or wariness, but simply to glean what information he could, even if it was indirect, that the man might not be willing to say outright. Sometimes a persons expressions, tone, or body language gave away a lot more than their words did. Lavi was well versed in guarding his own signals, practicing at it since a young age, or deliberately masking them with fake ones, so that he couldn't be read quite so easily that way.

It wasn't so much a conscious effort on his part this late into his life, merely a habit of second-nature. He didn't even always realize when he was doing it. It was like a defense mechanism that he rarely, if ever, dropped.

He casually crossed his arms, acting more as a true Bookman in this instance than his persona as "Lavi", dropping his feelings on the matter by the wayside. Right now, it was all business.

"Of course, we'll have to check for other rumors or potential witnesses that might know something if that lead dries up too."

Tiedol stayed completely still.

"Hmm, digging around the city is pretty hard when you're doing it on your own - and on the top of that, being a foreigner. I might help with that. I know people around here that might have some valuable information."

"That would be helpful," Lavi nodded. He took note of something Teidol kept saying - Yuu - which he hadn't heard before, but it didn't take much thought to piece together that maybe that was another part of Kanda's name. He wasn't sure which was the given and which was the family name, but he supposed he could always find out later, tucking that away into his memory.

Teidol turned to Allen and patted his shoulder affectionately. "You need rest, my dear." He said, subtly implying that Allen was a walking mess. "I'll take care of the men here, you lay down and rest a bit."

"But-" Allen protested weakly.

"No _but_ 's," Tiedol said, his fatherly instincts completely taking over as he pushed Allen backwards until he collided with the bed. "What would Yuu say if he saw you in this state? I'm sure the whole den would carry the consequences for a whole week if he saw what condition you're in." He smiled then, ruffling the assassin's white hair. "Don't forget what I told you - no matter what happened, he'll always be alright."

Lavi smirked as Allen protested, Teidol doting on him like a parent with Allen as the child. His friend really wasn't the type to know how to handle doting very well, with _anyone_. Seeing him flustered and at a loss in the argument was somewhat amusing. To a certain extent, Lavi doted. He didn't _think_ he did, but sometimes he really did. All the same, it wasn't a matter of authority though. He and Allen stood on even footing to each other no matter if Lavi tried to act like he was taking charge or not, whereas Teidol was much older, so his hierarchal relationship was a bit different.

Teidol reached into the folds of his coat and took out a little box. "See this?" He asked, opening it and holding it uncomfortably close to Allen's face. When the lad craned his neck a to see what was inside, Tiedol released a short breath and blew the white powder that was inside right into the assassin's face.

"What the-?" Allen coughed, trying to fan the dust away with his hand but failing. "What is..." He stuttered and then fell backwards on the bed, completely knocked out.

"A little secret I picked up along the way." Tiedol quickly clarified when he noticed the change in Lavi´s posture. "Completely harmless."

It was another method of the man's "doting", it seemed, but it fell a little on the... extreme side.

After a moment, Lavi laughed, shaking his head. Not many people knew how to out-cheat Allen, but that was absolutely _flawless_. It seemed the 'nice old man' was hiding somewhat of a sly side, but he really should have expected that from a weathered Assassin.

He really needed to find out what the secret of that powder was. It might come in handy.

"Shrewd. Very shrewd. I think I'm going to come to like you."


	15. Reluctant Messenger

"Geez, you'd think the next Great Flood was upon us with how it's raining out there," Lavi grumbled, still trying to get his hair dry. Maybe he really _should_ cut it. He'd been letting it go a bit more in the last few years, but that of course came with some downsides. Taking longer to dry was one of them, which was somewhat counter-productive to his work with books.

Allen huffed as he finished doing his daily push-ups and sat on the floor, gazing out of the window. "A flood indeed," he murmured, offering Lavi another linen sheet without as much looking at him.

It really was one Hell of a storm. Hardly anyone at all dared even go out into the streets today, but Lavi wouldn't exactly call it 'quiet'. He'd thought of staying inside his own place, but had ended up deciding on finding the den and Allen instead, a choice which he was slightly regretting.

Of course, he was sure that if he hadn't gone to Allen, Allen would have probably come to him, just to be sure he was faring okay, bad weather be damned. Maybe he'd just hunker down in the Assassin's library until it passed, and hope that it would only be a one-day thing.

"I'm not sure we're going to be seeing our messenger boy on time. Even if the kid is daring enough to brave that storm, I'm not sure the ferry will be."

Allen didn't even humor him with a hum this time. As the days progressed, he became more and more withdrawn and quiet. Gazing out of the window became some kind of routine. Ever since Lavi sent the letter, he'd been waiting to see a messenger deliver the reply - but only in vain.

"You know, staring out the window won't make it come any faster," Lavi pointed out, almost seeming to read Allen's thoughts. "It's only been three days since I sent it. You just have to be patient. So long as we keep up our counter-measures and be careful, we should be fine until then, and Teidol said he's fine." Having gotten his hair as dry as he figures it was going to get, he let the sheet hang around his shoulders idly, stretching. "The only thing worrying is going to do is cause you extra stress you don't need right now. Better to just let those thoughts go until we get a solid answer."

Allen ran his hand though his hair and fell on the bed with an exasperated sigh.

"You're right, I'm sorry," he said, turning to the side to look at the redhead properly.

The assassin looked like he wanted to say something but a soft knock on the door interrupted him.

"I found some an agitated little stray trying to get into the den," Tiedol's voice echoed from outside. "He said he carries something that might be yours." The man opened the door and stepped in, trying to shake the rain off his absurdly curly hair with one hand and pushing a small boy in with the other.

"We~ll, if it isn't our little delivery boy!" Lavi hummed, leaning on the door frame.

The brunette cast a dirty look at the man for pushing him in and sauntered a few steps further, pointedly out of arm's reach, before silently gazing around, seeming somewhat at a loss.

"Come on in, we don't bite," Lavi teased when the kid didn't immediately come forward, wary blue eyes going to him.

"I just came to deliver the vembraces," he rasped softly, his steps inside hesitant, still skittish. Lavi was trying to discern if that was simply his usual nature, or if there was a specific reason for it. Like that maybe he was hiding something.

Lavi merely nodded, his eye flicking to the door and Teidol mid-way through, trying to make it look like he was acknowledging what the boy said, but really he was sending a discreet motion that they didn't want the boy escaping out the door again, before they could talk to him properly.

Allen sat up on the bed, placing his feet firmly on the floor. With a gentle smile and a tilt of his head he extended his hand, silently urging the boy to give him the armor.

"Hello there," he said, his who personality shifting into a perfect picture of innocence. "Terrible weather, isn't it?" He asked, hoping that he would draw the boy out of his shell. From the corner of his eye he saw Tiedol lean against the doorframe casually, cleaning his glasses.

The brunette only nodded, likewise holding the armor pieces out so Allen could reach them, but not him. He was also keeping anyone close by somewhere within his line of sight, watching them carefully in a tense, preparatory sort of way.

"Sure is," Lavi piped, since the kid barely acknowledged what Allen said. "Maybe you should hang around a while 'til the rain at least lightens a bit. Wouldn't want to catch your death or anything."

"I really shouldn't," the kid answered quietly, before addressing Allen now, though his blue eyes never really looked directly at the man, falling short of his face and instead only in his general vicinity. "If they're not to your satisfaction, I'm supposed to report back, so they can be worked on until they are." The boy retracted his hands as soon as the vembraces fell into Allen's hands.

"You don't need to be afraid," Allen murmured as he inspected his armor. He put them down with a short, satisfied hum and focused back at the squirming boy. "We only want to ask a few questions."

The kid's eyes darted between Allen and Lavi a moment.

"About what?"

"Same thing as we came asking about before: if you saw or heard anything regarding whoever is targeting and killing Assassins," Lavi stated levelly.

" 'already said I don't know anything..." the boy pointed out more softly, shifting uneasily.

Allen sighed softly, hanging his head for a second. When he raised it again, his smile was no longer there.

"This isn't only about the assassins. Did you know Tim? The little boy with sandy hair and a scar on his forehead?" He asked softly. "He was my friend. He was a kid just like you. Someone killed him and if there is anything that would help us finding that someone we would be really grateful. You don't have to be afraid to tell us." Allen hoped that this strategy would work.

" 'said I didn't know anything," he repeated.

"And what about that blacksmith you work under?" Lavi proposed. The man was an unpleasant person, so even if the guy knew something, he doubted they'd get anything out of him. "Maybe he knows something? Or has some kind of involvement in it?" It was a possibility he wasn't willing to overlook until they'd explored it.

The brunette snorted through his nose in a condescending sort of manner and looked off to the side, his eyes hardening and more muttering to himself than actually speaking to them.

" _Som om det drukket ville selv finne tid til å være edru nok..._ "

Lavi smirked knowingly. " _Er det riktig?_ " He almost laughed aloud when the child looked back at him with wide eyes, obviously not having expected to be understood and going slightly paler, which was an accomplishment in and of itself since he was already quite pasty in skin tone.

Allen's eyes sparkling with hope, darting to Lavi. He had no idea what kind of language that was, but he was sure Lavi could get something out of the boy now.

"Do tell us more," he said, hoping that the boy would keep talking, even if it was in the language he didn't understand. Lavi was enough for that.

The kid was eyeing Lavi now is if trying to discern if he really understood, though he was hard-pressed not to believe it, since the redhead had replied in turn with the same language.

"Well, I don't think the blacksmith has anything to do with it," Lavi said with a little outward laugh. "Something along the lines of _as if that drunkard would ever be sober enough_. My Norwegian might be a little rusty, but I'm fairly certain that was the gist of it."

The boy looked a lot less amused than Lavi did, wincing slightly at his words. "Don't... tell anyone I said that..." he implored plaintively, fiddling with the hem of one of his long sleeves nervously.

Allen laughed lightly and stood up as silently as he could, moving closer to the boy. He crouched down, careful not to scare him. The smile was back on his face again.

"Don't worry," he said with a melodic voice - one that a parent would use to assure their child. "We won't tell anyone. But please, tell us anything you know - no matter how unimportant it might seem."

Despite Allen's attempts to come across as reassuring, the kid still pointedly retreated out of arms reach, though Lavi couldn't tell if he was doing it consciously or out of some sort of habit.

His eyes flicked elsewhere, like someone looking for a quick exit, but he didn't move, idly licking his lip in uneasy thoughtfulness.

" 'don't know..." he said again quietly, trailing off, before picking up again. " 'might know someone that could though. I think his name is Demir. People say he knows everything that goes on in the city more than anyone else, but most don't know him. He probably won't tell much easily, though."

"Demir?" Allen asked, looking at Lavi in silent question. Lavi shrugged. He hadn't heard it either, but at the very least, now he knew a name to listen for and ask about. Allen had been in Istanbul for quite some time but he hadn't heard such name yet. "Can you tell us where this Demir is, please?" He asked, standing up again.

"I don't know," the boy shrugged. "He's not someone you can find when he doesn't want to be." There was a wary look in his eyes as he warned, "That man's like a snake. He cheats and poisons and coils around people. He'll get a lot more information out of you than you probably will of him, but if it's that important, you might try. He's got a scar you can't mistake, like a huge 'X' on the front of his body, and he goes to the brothels sometimes..."

After a short pause, he added, "He seems like he disappears more than he's here, but I've heard he knows too much to ever be gone as long as he seems, and I've seen him a lot of times for a few years. Shouldn't be impossible to find him, just really hard."

Lavi nodded, tucking this information away for later investigation. Unfortunately they'd have to wait until the storm passed to explore it. No use trying to find the guy in this weather, when there was hardly even anyone to ask.

Allen's mind went completely blank when he heard what the boy said.

Could he...?

His eyes darted to his little table in the corner, seeking out the item Emil gave him before he died - his girlfriend's powder box. If the man loved brothels so much... that could be the easiest way to find him.

Allen absentmindedly moved to his little wardrobe chest and raked though the clothes, inspecting some of the finest pieces he had.

"Really, Allen? Again?" Lavi laughed. He almost wondered if Allen _enjoyed_ the idea of playing a woman, or at least dressing like one, a thought he realized a moment later he probably shouldn't be having.

But whatever.

He noticed the kid relax slightly when Allen moved elsewhere.

"Might be an easy way to get to him," Allen defended. "You can't even believe how easy some things get when people think you are a pretty, harmless woman."

Tiedol shook his head in defeat by the door but otherwise kept quiet.

"Hmmm... Do tell me more about the man please - hair, eyes and so on. Places where he would most likely hang out, uh, except the brothels." And then he innocently asked: "Does he like pretty faces?"

"Y'could say that," the kid hummed with a note of contempt in his barely audible voice, before he shook it off and shrugged again. " 'dark hair and dark green eyes. 'dunno much more than that. Mostly he just... shows up places. Randomly."

The tone in which the boy continued made Allen slightly more curious. He shared a look with Lavi and continued.

"Randomly shows up at places? Where have you seen him last?"

"He shows up at the shop sometimes, and other places, like the brothel. He only really appears when he wants something. He never goes anywhere just to go. There's always some motive behind his 'visits'. It's harder to find him that way," he replied.

Lavi hummed thoughtfully, having opted to keep to the sidelines so far through the whole discussion, since the boy seemed to the skittish type. Plus, it was easier to observe properly that way.

"So what sort of motive did he have for visiting the shop?" Maybe it was a dumb question, but he kept all doors open. The kid only shrugged again.

" 'dunno. 'don't really try to get involved."

That seemed a little... odd. He'd expected an obvious answer, like that maybe he just went there for weapons or something, which would make more sense even as a placation than a true answer.

"You seem to know a lot about the guy for someone that stays uninvolved," he noted. He noticed that exit-seeking glance again, and another shrug. "Considering you said most don't even know _of_ him."

"I hear things, is all..." the brunette muttered evasively. Lavi only hummed again speculatively.

Allen managed to hold his exasperated sigh. The boy was really uncooperative. He didn't want to scare him, but maybe a nudge would help a little. He really wasn't sure what to do.

The assassin glanced out of the window, humming. The rain was still pouring down mercilessly - maybe he could use that to his advantage.

"Well, never mind that." He said, putting back the fabrics and closing the chest. "The rain has not stilled, so, tea?"

Hearing that, Tiedol piped in. "Would be lovely, my boy! I'm going to get into some dry clothes." Which was really just an excuse to get a few men guard the door in case the boy would haul ass.

When the man left, Allen turned to the youngster and smiled. "What kind of tea do you like?"

The kid shrugged again. He did that a lot, Lavi noted.

" Doesn' matter. Any," he hummed. His watchful gaze shifted to Lavi as the man finally pushed off the wall, coming closer, but stopping outside a certain distance. Even if he got close, he guessed the boy would just make up the distance again anyway.

"Name's Lavi, by the way, an' that's Allen there," he nodded to the man with an easygoing smile. "And yours is...?"

There was a moment of hesitation, before he finally offered up uncertainly, "Faulklin."

"Pleasure to meet you, Faulklin!" Allen said, perking up a bit. Maybe they would really get the kid to talk today. He approached his table and took out a package out of the top drawer. "Be so nice and go fetch boiling water, Lavi," Allen requested as he carefully unwrapped a little red wooden box decorated by engraved golden dragons and Chinese letters. He took out three cups and sat them on the table. "Come look. Smell the tea." He held the box opened to the boy. "It is called Genmaicha - a special _Nihon_ green tea with roasted rice that keeps you healthy. Excellent to drink in this kind of weather." He hoped it caught Faulklin's attention at least a little bit.

Faulklin followed Allen at a distance, glancing more about the room and at the door than at Allen and looking awkwardly out of place.

"Never heard of it," he replied distractedly, more just humoring him with minimal responses at this point than really contributing to the conversation, whether out of not wanting to be rude or something else.

"Aahh, come on! We really don't want to do anything bad - I swear!" He said, a little bit disappointed that the kid still wasn't trusting them. Faulklin looked somewhat taken aback by Allen's exclamation, flinching with a hint of passing fear flitting across his eyes, but it was gone quickly and he didn't explain. Allen let it slide.

He prepared the cups and put them on the floor, offering Faulklin a pillow to sit on. "Make yourself comfortable. You hungry by any chance?"

After another moment of hesitation, Faulklin kneeled down on one of the pillows, crossing his arms over the table close to himself, his eyes downcast. "Not very much," he hummed, at the question if he was hungry. His eyes flitted to the door again and he sighed softly, his expression closely guarded. "He's going to be mad if I'm not back soon."

"He doesn't sound like a pleasant chap, does he?" The assassin asked as he sat down and reached for his vambraces. "Does he give you too much hard time?" That brought back a few of his own memories, but he didn't allow himself to dive into them. Allen tied the armor around his forearm slowly, waiting for the boy's reply.

Faulklin's lips opened to answer, but he hesitated, fidgeting with the cuff of his sleeve again. The silence lasted for more than a few seconds before he finally offered up an answer, shrugging again dismissively.

"He's not any worse than anyone else. He teaches me things," he muttered, still unhelpfully evasive.

Lavi returned at this point with the water, having caught a few snippets.

"Your boiling water, good sir! Will that be all this evening?" he teased.

Allen drew a breath to say something but right at that moment Lavi walked in with the water.

"A specialty from Japan, my dear man," he answered instead, taking the water and pouring it into each cup. "Pick the leaves when you think it has brewed enough. They don't need to be left inside for too long because the tea will get quite bitter, but it depends on what you prefer really." He turned to Faulklin again. "I can do your tea for you if you want," he offered. "The armor is fine, by the way. I'm satisfied enough." Not that he's going to use it for much longer now that he retrieved his other armor. "Do you want me to go with you to pay?" Allen asked, silently offering a moral support in case the blacksmith would flip out if the boy returned too late. Or for whatever reason the man would get mad.

"No, I can take the payment myself," Faulklin dismissed, leaning forward to take a cup and a few of the leaves. Lavi took up a seat near Allen and went about preparing his own cup.

"So how many years you been apprenticed to this master of yours?" Lavi questioned curiously. He had caught how Faulklin had said something about 'a few years' earlier, but he didn't think the boy originated from Istanbul, since he seemed to speak some of his home language decently enough.

"About five years," he hummed softly, attention diverted more towards his cup at this point.

"That's quite a while. You must've been... what, six, maybe?" he was really just taking a shot in the dark, trying to guess by appearance.

"Ten or so," Faulklin returned.

"Ten? So that makes you-" he almost choked on his own spit. Better that then hot tea though, he supposed. The guy couldn't be taller than maybe an inch or two past five feet. He's been positive he couldn't have been older than twelve at most, either. "You're fifteen?! Crap! He's shorter an' scrawnier than you ever were at that age, 'sprout! By a lot!"

Allen stared frozen at the boy when he announced his age but when his brain registered Lavi's comment he reacted fairly quickly.

"Hey! Leave height out of this! It's not my fault you're all giants. And don't tease him... I mean... really?" He turned to the boy again with his brows almost reaching his hairline. Fifteen? Even _he_ looked manlier at that age...

"Hey, I'm just calling it like I see it!" Lavi defended, holding his hands up in a placating manner. Jokes and nicknames not withstanding, Allen wasn't terribly far from average height and build, especially now that he'd fully grown out, were truth be told. Lavi was actually a little on the taller side, which was how he got away with joking about it.

It wasn't just height that had led to Lavi's assumption, though. Demeanor had a bit to do with it too. Allen had been mild-natured and polite at that age, but Lavi would certainly as Hell never say he was _timid_. Faulklin, however, was. Far more than his age implied he should be. His physical features and demeanor together made for a very good impression of someone quite a bit younger and more insecure.

Faulklin, of course, didn't look as though he noticed the comments, doing a very thorough job of trying to stay out of it even if the topic was about him. Piecing together that with how he'd seen him and the blacksmith interact, and how the guy seemed to enjoy belittling him, he guessed the kid was probably used to holding his tongue.

Allen let Lavi's comment slip for now and observed the kid again.

"You're awfully quiet," He observed, tilting his head slightly as he sipped his tea. A glance at the window told him that they still had some time to try prying some information out of him. "So, this Demir. Did you need anything from him? Did you ever meet him in person?" He needed to know what he should be expecting. He's not going to walk the streets at night completely unprepared after all. "I just... want to know how he treats women... or people in general." He smiled sweetly.

Faulklin glanced up at Allen for a moment, then back down at his tea, not humoring the first comment.

"I've met him, a few times. He's like a snake," Faulklin repeated. " When he wants something, he immediately strikes for it, but he doesn't bother with something at all if it's not worth it to him. 'charms and manipulates people, tries to wrap himself around them one way or another, usually jus' for information but sometimes more. He acts however he thinks will most benefit him at the time. Good at withholding things while taking when you don't even know it. He's someone you have to be careful around, because you probably won't even realize his game until it's too late, when it happens."

"Sounds like a tricky guy," Lavi mused, resting his chin on palm. "I don't think it's anything we can't handle, though."

Allen's smile grew bigger and somehow darker. Lavi bore a wry smirk. _That_ look again. The redhead sometimes had to actively remind himself of what sort of childhood Allen had had with Cross. He was always so mild-natured that the man almost forgot, up until another one of these instances happened.

"I like games. I can't wait to see what he has up his sleeve." He chuckled darkly, then calmly sipped his tea again.

"So, how are we going to do this? Any ideas how to lure him out?" He asked Lavi this time. "I could try ask around in a few brothels for some information but I wouldn´t really relay on that too much. The girls have their hands full with all kinds of men. Also, I don´t want to spend a week dancing in there, hoping that he turns up at some point." He hoped Lavi would come up with some good plan.

"Birds of a feather," Lavi mused. "The guy likes information, right? It might take some asking around, but I would almost bet that someone in one of the taverns would know. Those places are information-central. We could even leave a little trail of interest for him to follow, maybe, since, from what's been said so far, he only appears on his own terms."

It wouldn't be hard. The only potential problem in question was that leaving baited information could attract more than one kind of 'snake'. They had to be careful with the Hunter about, since they knew neither their identity, and barely knew anything of Demir's.

"Involving other assassins is out of question." Allen offered thoughtfully. "I was thinking maybe the girls could help a little. I have a few friends among the gypsies - that is a good way to spread some false rumors that could lure him out." Lavi nodded his agreement. That would be a good resource to use. It would also help them keep a lower profile, rather than going around asking neutral parties that could equally give away information about them, like the barkeepers.

For some reason, Allen felt like he was going to be safest in a brothel. His hunter didn't strike him as a man that sought out relief in brothels. Not that he's going to let his guard down, but he didn't want to put anyone else into a potential danger. He also didn't think the hunter would go on a killing spree in such place just because Allen was in touch with a few professional women.

"Sorry!" He suddenly said, clearing his thoughts and turning to the boy. "We're going to talk about it later," he said to Lavi with a sideways look and turned his attention back that the boy who looked a little bit disappointed that the debate is going to turn to him again. "But anyway, tell me more about yourself - can you craft already?"

Faulklin nodded faintly at Allen's question, briefly glancing at him.

"Yeah, I know how. I help work on the orders he gets." _'He'_ being the blacksmith, but he utterly refused to call the guy _Master_ when he didn't have to. And as far as he was concerned, at the moment, he didn't have to. Sipping down the last of the tea, he stood, having truthfully lost interest in talking long ago, but hoped he'd at least humored them long enough to satisfy them into letting him leave. "I need to go back. I just need the money for the repair."

"Aaww, so soon?" The assassin whined but he reached into his pouch anyways. "I'll come to see you soon again. I want to see how good you can craft," he said, putting the money into the boy's hand. "You sure you're good on your own?"

Faulklin nodded, only getting close enough to retrieve the money before pointedly retreating a step.

"I'll be fine. 'prob'ly better if it's just me, anyway." The storm was still going, but he didn't seem to care, anxious to leave more than anything. He moved to go, but paused a moment as if remembering something all of a sudden, fidgeting awkwardly but not looking back directly. "Th-thank you... for the tea."

"You are very welcome," Allen replied, nodding. "Come by anytime if he gives you a hard time." He secretly bit his tongue hard enough to make it bleed. His smile, however, stayed in place.

As soon as the boy disappeared, he sighed and hid his face in his palms.

"I totally forgot," he murmured. He couldn't uphold his silent promise to distance himself from everyone. It was just impossible. Allen only hoped that the boy's stay would go unnoticed by certain people. "I hope I haven't doomed another child to his death."


	16. Into the Serpent's Den

For the following few days Allen wandered around the city wrapped up in a long red scarf to conceal his features, gathering all kinds of interesting rumors about his new target. He made a trip to the Romani camp to ask around for some help and even despite emptying his pouch and almost lost his soles because of all the dancing he had to go though, he knew that he would not be disappointed with the information he will, hopefully, get later.

He made a stop at a few brothels to ask the girls to keep an extra eye on the chap he was looking for in return for letting them take care of him for several wonderful hours during which he had to pinch himself several times to keep his task in mind. Knowing people at these kinds of places had its advantages. Not that it was all for free but he was ten times more happier "working" while laying down than dancing his poor feet off.

Not even two days after his snooping around and giving out money to potential informants, Allen was rewarded by several very reliable leads, of which most pointed out one place in general.

And so, Allen Walker, also called "The White Demon", clad himself in the finest silks he borrowed from the brothel girls, concealed his scar with the powder Emil gave him, put a veil over his face and headed to the brothel where the man should most probably show up.

All this farce was actually not so bad, Allen mused as he slapped yet another offending hand off his butt. The men were lecherous but none of them too daring - a slap or a brief threat was enough to discourage any overly invading touches and he only had to draw his blade once, which he considered to be a big accomplishment.

Soon enough, a girl took him to the side and pointed out the man he was looking for.

A gaunt man with a hardly overseeable scar on his chest that made an 'X' from shoulders to hip, and a glabrous smile plastered on his face sitting in the far corner of the dark room, smoking a hookah and getting pretty handsy with a couple of girls. He looked a little rough, but only slightly muscled. He stretched out languidly in comfort, seeming easily distracted by the women and girls he had at his service, but not enough that Allen didn't catch his gleaming eyes.

Not hesitating for a single while, Allen made his way over, discreetly letting the girls know that he would take over.

"Hello dear sir," he greeted with a velvety voice as he straddled his legs. "Having fun tonight?"

A thin smile stretched across his features as Allen came to straddle him, shifting slightly to what he seemed to deem a more comfortable position.

"Well if I wasn't before, I am now," he chuckled huskily, gingerly brushing a few locks away from Allen's face. "You are a pretty little thing. I've seen a lot of beauties in my time, but never with such magnificently white hair before. Is it natural?"

Placing his hands on the man's chest, Allen tilted his head as if in shyness. "Why thank you very much," he said as he chuckled lightly, "all natural, I promise." With a gentle caress across the man's pectorals, Allen continued. "This is a very impressive scar," he purred, "tell me how it happened."

"Not much to tell," Demir hummed cryptically, the back of his hand lightly brushing down his cheek, then ghosting down his neck to the collarbone. "Lots of people in this world fancy blades, and eventually we all get caught by one somewhere. Luck favors some of us above others enough to survive it. So how came such a pretty thing to this place? I would think someone somewhere would want to spare more than a few coin for a flower surely picked from God's own private garden such as you." He flashed another charming smile.

"Fancy indeed, but not many can use them properly. The scar seems like a thing with an interesting story behind it." He answered, trying to decide whether to get the man into a more private place to ´talk´ or stay here and steer the conversation where he want's it to go.

Still, the weird spark in the man's eye... and he has to be careful.

Allen leaned into the touch, ignoring the unpleasant tingle in his skin and smiled, shifting a little bit on Demir's legs to sit more comfortably. "You flatter me sir. But I am perfectly happy where I am. People here have more interesting stories to tell than the ones clad in gold and lies."

Demir smirked, tracing the nail of his thumb lightly over the pulse of his neck. "Yes, here you can still find those clad in gold, but with far looser lips, hm? Not many things in this world can make men talk of the secrets they guard, but some things... can garner whatever one wants to know." There was an almost hinting quality to his voice. Subtle, but still existent.

He pushed himself to sit up and tilted his legs up so that Allen slid against him, burying his lips close to Allen's ear as the hand traced down his chest and his side in the same deliberate manner. His voice lowered to a whisper, dripping with seductive tenor.

"Perhaps there's something you would like to know, and loosen from my lips, and just maybe _I_ would like to know exactly how wide this flower blossoms."

Allen's heart jumped into his throat as the man shifted but forced himself to stay calm, very aware of the finger pressing against his neck.

He had to bit his lip from lashing out on this guy. Faulklin was right - the man was a snake. A game indeed. But did the man know...?

He felt his warm breath ghost over his ear, which sent shivers down his back. Still, he kept his blade sheathed. He scraped his fingers along the back of the man's skull, pressing his own lips against the man's ear in return.

"Will you tell me about your scar then, dear sir?" He whispered, "Let's go somewhere less crowded where I can treat you really special..."

 _Just few more moments. Just few moments longer._ Allen repeated in his mind. _Just don't stab him by accident!_ Damn the man made his skin crawl.

He took Demir's hand and backed off of the man, careful not to break the eye contact.

He cracked a self-assured smile, rising almost as soon as Allen did, never letting too much distance grow. He traced his fingers back up his neck, to his jaw, and his thumb momentarily swiped caressingly over the shorter man's lips. His eyes danced with what might have been amusement, and something else, tilting his head slightly as he eyed the other thoroughly.

"Lead the way, little flower. I'm eager to see your garden." He stayed a pace or two behind as he fell into step, watching Allen intently as though admiring him as they walked.

The second Allen turned around to lead the way, his face turned into a painful grimace.

The word _garden_ will never be the same again. Oh, he's going to give him a flower all right. On his tombstone when this is all over.

He lead the way upstairs, trying to urge the man as quickly and as discreetly as possible, trying to avoid any further touches. Once the door closed, Allen allowed himself to relax a little bit.

Demir hummed what might have been approval, crossing the room casually until he reached the bed, where he sat down and motioned for Allen to join him. More specifically, to come sit in the same place against him as before.

"I believe we last left off somewhere...?"

Allen actually laughed when he saw the man sit down and invite him to join. He bit his lip and unveiled his face, walking back to the door and - oh so innocently - twisting the key until he heard the satisfying click. The man didn't seem to be bothered by that.

Good.

Allen made his way back to Demir, deciding to humor the snake-like man no longer. He stood in front of him, a dark smile playing on his lips.

"Ready for storytelling?"

"Perhaps I am," Demir hummed, sitting back lazily and propping himself up by either arm. Despite the look that crossed Allen's face, he seemed unbothered by it, as if nothing had changed, either not having the first clue what this was truly about, or having known all along. It was impossible to tell. "For the right incentive. Or maybe I'm not. It can be so hard to remember things sometimes. Details always seem to slip through the cracks. Perhaps you could help jog my memory." He licked his lips deliberately.

The corner of Allen's lip quirked upwards a few times.

"Jog your memory, eh?" He dropped his voice low, all pretending be damned.

This guy had some nerve...

He stepped closer, internally gagging at Demir's almost excited look.

With a jerk of his wrists, he bared his blade and put his leg on the bed, right between the man's thighs. "How about you tell me the news you picked up around the city and I let you walk out with the majority of your limbs still in tact?"

The real game starts now.

The man sighed through his nose in a humoring sort of way. If he was intimidated at all, he hid it perfectly.

"You Assassins, always so quick to draw a blade... but you can't get everything you want all the time with steel and blood." He smirked again, the same confident, self-assurance as before. "And asking for every bit of news in the city is a lot to ask, much less for free. Every word has a price."

He was going to murder the man in cold blood and decorate the wall with his innards pretty soon if this kept up. Just how cocky could he get? The man only calmly watched him.

"Sorry," Allen offered mockingly, "but the garden is a ruined land and the flower withered a long time ago. You already got your treat. The rest of the payment will be me letting you go in one piece. I want to know about a man from Italy that came a few weeks ago and perhaps asked around the city for an assassin with white hair and scarred face," Allen said as he undid the tie that held his hair and wiped the thick layer of powder off his face with the piece of fabric he wore around his shoulders. "How about that?"

The man sighed again, more honestly this time, and let his head rest back.

"I hate people who don't listen."

He seemed content to stay where he was, stock still. Without even a twitch of forewarning, he grabbed the wrist with the hidden blade and bracer, twisting it tightly behind Allen's back, holding it there and flipped them, pinning the smaller man with his full weight into the bed so that Allen's legs straddled him again, so that he couldn't be kicked or kneed in the groin. All of it in a blinding second, exactly like the lashing snake he'd been described as.

He leaned in close, his breath on Allen's ear, hissing with carefully slow enunciation.

"I don't play other people's games."

He was fast, alright. Faster than Allen would have guessed. But he realized that a second too late - with his back pressed against the soft mattress.

There was silence for half a second where they only stared at each other, until a metallic click echoed in between them and Allen bared his hook-blade, menacingly tapping the man's crotch with it.

"Me neither," he growled, wiggling a little to see of he could push the man off. Their position was very... unpleasant. Not that he wasn't used to something like this, but he fancied being under a different man.

"I would advise against that." Demir didn't move, seeming just as unshakably calm as he had from the start. He was obviously well-practiced at what he did, too nonchalant about it to be any kind of stranger to the position both found themselves in. "After all, you're not the only one in this city who is hunting. It would be very unfortunate, were you to give me reason not to withhold what other sides might want to know, about certain rumored traitors." Allen froze at the word _'traitor'_. His chest constricted and he was sure his heart left out more than one beat. Demir smiled knowingly. "And it would be equally so for you to lose leads you can't afford to let die with me."

"You know of him," Allen whispered, almost giving in and letting his guard down. He looked lost for a brief while but he pulled himself together in a blink of an eye. "Who is he? Tell me where I can find him, so I can put an end to this!" The fire inside of him was burning bright again. The images of his dead students - Tim lying under the blanket; Emil nailed on the wall and his heart laid upon Allen's armor - filled his head. "Tell me!" He repeated, forgetting about his discomfort.

"You're still not listening~" Demir hummed. "I don't talk for free, and for threats and blades, the only thing you'll get is what you want to hear, not what you need to know. A very keen difference. The only thing in question now is..." He trailed off, and a hand trailed up, skimming over Allen's thigh but stopping just short of reaching its suggested destination. "-how badly do you need to know? How many more lives ride on it, hm?" His eyes flicked upward meaningfully. "I don't give charity, nor do I steal. I work in... _transactions_. In order to get something from me, I need something from you that's worth my while."

He didn't elaborate on what would count as 'worth his while', leaving it entirely open-ended to see what sort of proverbial cards Allen would throw onto the table.

"If you have nothing worthwhile to offer, then our business here is already concluded."

Allen took a shaky breath and sheathed his hook-blade. However unpleasant the man was, he was right - threats would get him nowhere. Not when he didn't want to have more blood on his hands.

He went completely slack for a moment, turning his head to the side and sighed. Demir was almost glowing with sudden excitement. With his left hand, Allen reached to the back of the man's head, gently raking his fingers though the dark hair.

"I am very desperate," he whispered, putting on the best desperate look he could muster. He felt Demir's body relax a little bit, which was his chance for retaliation. "-but I'm not a common whore," Allen growled and swung his head upwards, hitting the snake-man right in the nose, then used his hook-blade to catch on the fabric of the man's left leg and pulled, turning the man finally over so he was free to jump up.

"Quid pro quo, then." Allen said, taking a step back from the bed where the man sat, cussing and holding his bloody nose. Allen sighed again and unwrapped the long scarf around his shoulders, holding it up to him. "Here, it's ruined by the powder anyway."

Demir took his time going for the tossed scarf, not terribly desperate, and pretty soon he laughed low under his breath, recovering quickly.

"Perhaps, then, we can come to some other arrangement," he mused, leaning forward and trying to get his nose to stop bleeding. His eyes flicked upward, his head still tilted down, waiting to see what Allen would do. "You're not a common whore, after all, and I don't give out free scraps, so it appears we have come to an impasse."

"Information for information then? I have heard you fancy collecting those. Maybe I know something that could help you live another day," Allen tried, not really believing that he possessed that kind of knowledge but it didn't hurt to try.

He turned around to get a clean linen sheet out of the very small table in the corner and started to wipe his face with it. The powder felt heavy on his face and once he got rid of it completely it was as if his skin could breathe again. He tossed the cloth away and sat on the bed again, minding the distance between himself and Demir.

"You alright?"

"It wouldn't be the first time I've had a bloody or broken nose," Demir dismissed nonchalantly. In a touchy trade like his, walking away with just that was often lucky.

He laughed faintly.

"And yes, information for information. To label it in such a trivial way as _something that may save my life_ though is not a ploy I fall for. I've been doing this trade long enough to know how to conduct myself without endangering my life." He sniffed, tilting his head up and wiping away some of the blood still dribbling from his nose. " 'Safe' information is worthless. Risky intel is where the true worth lies."

"So, what is it going to be?" Allen asked, hoping that Demir would ask something he would know. "If nothing else I could pay in money." He paused, then added curiously, "I know I have set some people to get you out, but how did you know?" referring to his cross-dressing. He knew that there were very few people with hair like he had but there were always ways to bleach it. He also relayed on the atmosphere in the room downstairs - it was hard to tell many colors from one another, firstly because of the light and secondly because of the incenses and smoke.

Demir chuckled under his breath.

"I have my own little birdies that fly back with tell of things. You thought you were hunting me with false rumors, and that I was unaware of it, but I knew long before stepping into this building in wait for you." His nose had stopped bleeding by now, and he tossed the cloth aside. "And no matter how well dressed, there are some things a man posing as a woman cannot hide, if you know what to look for."

"You didn't seem to mind," Allen chuckled crossing his legs.

"There's little room to retain such bias when being indiscriminate carries more benefit."

"But you came prepared, I give you that. The rumors are true then."

Demir looked at Allen now, that same calculative gleam still present, but he made no moves. Suddenly, Allen was glad for the space between them.

"As for the information, impress me. Something I couldn't simply find out off the streets and equal in worth to what you want me to tell you. In order to know everything going on in a city, one has to know what goes on in the most impenetrable of places, of secrets that only a few select know." A serpent smile twitched across his face. "It's imperative to running a successful business, lest any competitor's make your life worth a little less to those who matter."

When the man finished what he was saying, a frown appeared on the assassin's face.

"How do I know you won't stab me in the back after I leave this building?" Demir wanted essential information, one he could trade for the similar kind. He had one, but if it fell into the wrong hands, it could cause far more evil than anyone could imagine. Allen would no longer be tainted by blood - he would be swimming in it. "How do I know that the information you possess is true?"

Demir stood, walking to another part of the room to pour a glass of wine, idly swirling it.

"Whether you decide to trade for information, that's your gamble to choose. I'm in the same position. There's only so many ways for me to validate if what you tell me is true, and only after we conclude our business. That means we're on even footing, in that regard." He threw his head back, taking a long swig. "And to stab one in the back, first you have to take sides. You seem to already know your way around one such kind of person who keeps his loyalties as close as he does the identity he plays. I work in much the same way."

Allen bit his lip in thought. Indeed, Lavi chose his place of stay carefully and avoided taking sides, but it was his job to do so. Demir, on the other hand, was tied to nothing but his own needs.

"He is something completely different," Allen murmured, knowing pretty well that the only side Lavi would ever going to take was his. The assassin stood up as well and walked to the window, leaned against the wall next to it and stared outside into the darkness.

Demir laughed.

"Are you so sure we're that different?" he mused. "A bookman is a bookman. They're all the same. They play roles, put on errs, but in the end, that's all it is, all in the name of the next juicy piece of information. Nothing but business. A business that they choose to take part in." He seemed amused, clearly thinking Allen to be naive. "And they take whatever side benefits them most, nothing more."

Allen stared at the ground, a soft smile playing on his lips. He didn't care about what the man thought about him. "But not all men are the same," he said quietly, crossing his arms on his chest.

"You know the rumors around the city," he said finally. Maybe confirming few of them could help him get to his hunter, or make the hunter get straight to him without leaving presents or more corpses. "What do the rumors say about me?"

He shook his head with a smile and poured another glass of wine.

"That would depend. There are always plenty of rumors. People love to talk. Not everyone talks of the same things, or spreads the same rumors, you know."

"What rumors about me would you like to confirm or dismiss? I may help with a few. Wanna do this as a quick questioning? Your turn, my turn?"

"We-ll... what I know, is that, within the ranks of the Assassins, the ones here and the ones where you come from aren't on the same side. For one reason or another, they want you and your colleagues dead and out of the picture, as far as I can figure, but they can't do that without taking you all out one at a time, because they don't have numbers on their side. Reeks of foul play of some kind. The million dollar question is, of course, what are they so intently after," Demir said, turning and leaning his back against one of the narrow, long tables against the wall, swirling his glass.

"Since you and them are from the same place, and they went to all the trouble of following you here, I'm guessing you're the King on the chess board that they have to check-mate."

"You are wrong only in one thing." Allen fixed his stare on the dark haired man. "They only want me. My colleagues, or in other words - those who knew the about ´the truth´ are long since gone." Except one man, but that was something Demir didn't need to know. "They hunt only me, everyone else is not important. Well, everyone who doesn't _know_. But the question is, do you _know_?"

Allen walked over to the man and stopped only few inches away, reaching to the table to pour himself some wine as well, his eyes never leaving the other. "Are you a man yearning for absolute power and eternal youth? What do you know about my hunter?"

Demir smirked, laughing softly.

"No such thing as eternal youth or immortality, but it makes for good payment to those who buy into such things with any seriousness, in search of true treasures." He downed another sip.

"What I know, is that some months ago, a white-haired man appeared in the city I call home, who was from out of country. After he arrived, there were whispers, of a _White Demon_ , among the well-informed, that also originated from a source beyond the borders, and those whispers trickled through local sources, and back again. Then mysterious killings started to happen some weeks later, all associated to the Assassins, and their allies began to watch the streets more carefully. When things happen, certain people notice, and certain people listen to talk and pass it along. What I know, is that the killer is a man, and he hides somewhere in plain view." He left off there, silence following as he drank.

"It is a good thing to rouse people with, though. Scholars who believe such words kill and experiment with children, bathe in their blood, believing that one day they will fine the essence of eternal life. Preachers preach about Gods and their unreachable and divine powers, warn people not to reach too high or else they will burn and yet they secretly search for a way to have those powers to themselves. Two parties entered the city not long ago and both of them search for the same unknown thing. But, as you said, only one man knows The Truth I keep watch over, so tell me, which one is he - a preacher, or a scholar?"

"It could be that he is neither," Demir pointed out a third option. "I don't know what he is, but I do know what he isn't. He doesn't cloak himself amongst your number. He doesn't pose as any sort of warrior or soldier either, such as amongst the Byzantines." He could already tell that Allen was ready to ask and confirm that he didn't know who the hunter was, but didn't give enough pause to let him follow through, going ahead anyway. "In short, I don't know exactly who to point you to to satisfy your blades with, but for the right price, I can find out. Webs take time to weave, however, so the answer will not be so immediate."

Allen swallowed the lump in his throat and downed his glass of wine. He should have known. But at least he knows now where he doesn't have to look.

"What do you want in return?" He asked, kind of dreading the answer.

"This truth of which you speak. I want to know what it is," he hinted interestedly. "And for it, and what I've already told you, I'll find his identity for you. You can always try following your leads on your own, of course, and forget about telling me, however," he paused for another sip. "I can guarantee you that, if those leads run dry, you won't know where to look next, whereas I, however, already do."

Allen nodded, albeit with hesitation. "If I tell you about The Truth, should I be worried about you sending men after me? I would hate to see more people getting killed over this. You are a clever man, I hope I don't need to tell you to watch which way the wind blows the words."

"Now you're finally playing the game like someone who knows what they're doing," Demir voiced with a smirk, tilting his head slightly, his eyes glinting as he seemed to size Allen up and down with a similar infatuation to far earlier in their encounter. "What I deal in is information, not strong-arming. You asked me if I wanted power, but I already have it. Knowing all that I do and knowing what others don't know, and don't know that I know, gives me true power. Of course, that power is easily enough lost if I give it up too carelessly, now isn't it?"

"Indeed," Allen said in a low voice, frowning. "So what is it going to be? If you want my body, I'd have to decline." He didn't miss how Demir eyed him once more. "I'm already taken. Choose something within reason."

"Taken?" Demir thought back to some of Allen's earlier defending words, and laughed to himself. "Surely not to that bookman? And I told you - the truth that your enemy is after. That is my price."

Allen smiled, feeling his chest lighter again. "No, not to the bookman." He bit his lip and raised his brow. "It could be a woman."

"It could be a lot of things less publicly mentionable too," Demir joked in sick humor, though it was questionable how joking he truly was. Allen let the comment slip, not wanting to develop the idea any more. "And you still have not answered me on the information I require for my services."

"We trade information. The one I want is the one you don't have yet. I am going to answer you when you have it. Fair trade. Let me know when you are ready to trade, and maybe, if I'm going to be satisfied with it, I will show you, rather than tell you." He tilted his head then, pouting. "You are not going to tell me how to find you, are you?"

"If I have no assurance that the information is worth my while, then I have no reason to expend energy searching for what you want to know," Demir responded levelly, not to be deterred. "And if you want to find me again, you already know how. My birds will fly the message to me when you need to find me, all you have to do is leave out crumbs for them to find."

"Is the hunt on my head not proof enough? I don't know how else I can assure you that I'm not lying," Allen thought for a while, pacing across the room.

"I never said I thought you a liar," Demir pointed out coolly. "Only that I don't know if the information is worth my trouble. There could be any vast number of reasons why someone would want you dead. It doesn't mean it's worth anything to anyone outside of yourself and the one who wishes such fate upon you."

"Fine," Allen huffed, going to the other corner where he stashed his things. "Close the curtains, would you?" He asked as he dug through the clothes to find his pouches. He walked back to Demir and took a deep breath. "If the hunter comes to pay you a visit, tell him I still possess it." He said and opened the pouch, taking out the golden orb that lay within it; round, encased in golden plates, and glowing faintly, like something out of old myths of magical items wielded by heroes and gods. Soon enough the lines engraved into it were filled with liquid light that lazily flowed through it.

For a moment, he almost seemed mesmerized by it, the light of the object dancing off his eyes, before they flicked back to Allen with rapt attention.

"When I bring you the information you want, I want to see how it works." He seemed clever enough to figure out that asking for a demonstration now was likely a request that wouldn't be granted until Allen had what he wanted: the identity of the hunter. But his interest was definitely piqued more than before. "Until then, consider our deal official. We'll meet again when I discover something worth reporting."

A satisfied smile bloomed on Allen's face.

"Pleasure to do business with you, dear sir." He returned to the chest in the corner, carefully putting the object inside. "At least I can finally get rid of this garment," he murmured as he began to strip from the ridiculous clothes he wore with a little more difficulty than he would have liked.

"The pleasure was all mine," Demir purred, moving back to the bed and stretching out on it, making himself comfortable.

There was still no shortage of eye-balling the other occupant of the room, shameless in glancing him over as he changed with a crooked smirk propped up by one arm lazily, enjoying the show and Allen's frustration at trying to get back into something else entirely too much.

"An extra word of advice, for the next time we meet. Best not to wrap and present someone with false gifts," he glanced him up and down meaningfully. "If you don't intend that they should try to open and take them. It's just bad business."

Allen froze just as he pulled the fabrics over his head and turned around to glare at the other who was visibly very satisfied with his struggles.

"That was just a precaution. Also, it's easier to get man to talk like this. Or in other words - less bloody. Although thanks to you, the word ´garden´ is never going to be the same. Ever." He shuddered, carelessly tossing the clothes on the floor.

Dressing in his pants and the sleeveless overcoat, Allen turned to the side to conceal his burnt arm at least a little bit, undid the belts on his blades and peeled off the silky glove, hastily replacing it with his own custom made one.

"We started off a wrong foot," he said as he put on the weapons in place. "How about a deal-sealing drink?"

Allen's anger only had the man more amused, sitting back up slightly.

"I would love to."

 


	17. Methinks he doth protest too much

While Allen busied himself with one task, Lavi tended to ones of his own. Just as he had done the last time, he cleaned himself up properly, dressing well and paying more attention to his appearance than he normally afforded, until he was sure not one hair was out of place.

Last time, his targets in question had been the scholars after immortality, but that lead was dry. He was sure of it, after having spent some time around them to determine their involvement. Now it was time to test if there was any sort of connection between the priests that had arrived, and the hunter intent on finding and killing Allen.

If not, he'd have to find more leads to follow.

Heading out, his folded spear tucked neatly in hiding in the back on the back of his belt, just in case he might need it, he headed out to the streets to locate the church, finding it easily. At the very least, this time it would be somewhat easier to make his being there less suspicious, since it was more of a public place than a private dwelling, like the home of those scholars had been.

Heading inside, he glanced about, taking note of other people within. Most were civilians, there for prayer or some other service they hoped to gain from the place.

His eye shifted discreetly as he headed further in, trying to catch someone working in and for the church itself that would be worth talking to. Someone who looked like they might know a lot more than others, or who was simply suspicious.

There was a man clad in black robe, sitting on the steps under the cross and hastily jotting down some notes into his little notebook as he looked around. At first sight he seemed like any other man, yet he somehow stuck out like a sore thumb.

Lavi was watching each of the figures carefully, but it was that particular one who caught his eye, for one reason or another. He had a sort of itch in his memory, like déjà vu, but it took a moment to realize why.

He recalled his face as the same one Allen had run into the night he was drunk silly.

And something about that bothered him.

Plastering a small, easygoing smile on his face, he made his way closer, seeming tentative to interrupt whatever the man was doing.

"Excuse me a moment," he said, to get the man's attention. He nodded towards the notepad. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important...?"

The man raised his eyes from his notes and blinked, his smile wavering briefly, as if he was unsure by where he found himself after his long dream-like engrossment with the images he was studying. He pushed his glasses up his nose and squinted. When he focused at the redhead, his smile appeared again.

"Oh, no, not really. How can I help?" He asked, closing the little notebook.

"Ah, well you see, I'm somewhat new to this region. I'm a collector, of sorts, and what I like to collect is historical and practical knowledge, books, local stories...things like that," he launched in immediately, playing upon the image of the innocent traveling historian. "I was hoping to find someone local who isn't too busy to help me out with that. If I'm not mistaken, you're a priest, correct? Your kind usually knows a bit more than the common folk about things like that, but of course, if you're too busy, I could try finding someone else to help me out."

He didn't want to seem too desperate to talk to any one person, after all, lest he come across as suspicious.

"No, no, not busy at all." The man chuckled and scratched his cheek sheepishly. "I am a priest, indeed, but not a local one as you can see. I came to study the local religious customs and art!" He gestured around with his hand excitedly. "Look at it! Marvelous!" He seemed to slip into his dreamy state again but it didn't take him too long to come back. His shrugged and stood up. "The locals are not really keen on sharing their stories," he commented, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. "I'm not a specialist, but if you're interested in religious matters, I could share the little bit I've gathered so far?" he offered, extending his hand to the other man. "I'm Apollo, by the way."

"Oh! A fellow enthusiast then!" Lavi piped excitedly. "Wherever there's history, there's usually nice architecture too. If you have anything at all to share, I'd love to hear it!" He nodded appreciatively and shook the hand that was offered. "And if you run out of local things to talk about, maybe you have some stories from where you come from that you'd be willing to share." That way, maybe he could find out if the man was from Italy, and possibly connected to the murders, without coming directly out and revealing what he was really after. "Anyway, it's good to meet you, Apollo. You can simply call me Bookman."

He only really kept going by the alias 'Lavi' with Allen and his associates because that was the "name" the other man originally knew him by. Normally, he would never recycle his past names, but he didn't think Allen would simply call him Bookman even if he insisted, and trying to force the issue might raise some questions he wasn't allowed to answer.

"Pleasure to meet you, lad, pleasure to meet you." He said with an unnaturally satisfied face. "It's always good to share knowledge with ears that are eager to listen." He started and gestured ahead, calmly and began to walk.

He lead Lavi around the church while he talked about the customs of the people here, pointing out different frescos on the walls and ceiling, hastily scribbling a note from time to time when he seemed to arrive to another theory or idea.

"...-but this is only a small fragment of the real beauty of this city," the elder man said as they walked out. "Sancta Sophia!" He called, with a heavy accent Lavi immediately recognized. "Once a Christian basilica, now an Islamic mosque thanks to the Ottoman. Her beauty never diminishes." He sighed, and shook his head. "Also a library, I've heard." He laughed. "Sorry, I must be boring you with my rant. I tend to get quite passionate about certain things and you are an excellent listener. But tell me, what brought you to this place? Young people are usually interested in collecting different things than snippets of history and knowledge."

"Oh no, you're not boring me at all," Lavi said with a smile.

Playing at false interests to get information or otherwise, he liked to listen. Even if he had heard the same story a million times over, there were always new details to find with every new telling, especially when the story came from different sources. And of course getting all sides of those stories painted the broadest picture of all, and helped to remain unbiased to any one view.

"I'm very much interested in anything you have to say," he paused for a moment and tilted his head casually. "Tracking down stories and knowledge on things is sort of like a family legacy." It wasn't a total lie, only 'family' was a very loose term, since he wasn't related to his mentor or anyone else within the Clan as far as he was aware, and most members didn't ever directly associate with each other. "My Gramps took me under his wing when I was very young when I showed potential for perhaps one day being a scholar like him, and I've been studying these sorts of things ever since. He basically told me that knowledge brings the greatest freedom, and there are perks to being well-educated." He laughed faintly. "For instance, I may one day come across someone in my travels of high status in need of a tutor to prepare their children for the rigors of aristocracy, which would put me somewhere that I might live quite well. So I guess, in a nutshell, you can chalk it up to self-satisfaction. After all, material things are useless if you can't find the resources to hold onto them, but knowledge is always up here," he tapped his head meaningfully.

"You seem to have your life figured out," Apollo noted with a slight nod. "Very clever." He hummed. "You are a lucky man then. Not many are like you and your grandfather is absolutely right - knowledge is the greatest freedom, just as it is the absolute power." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I came here with a few colleagues - all priests like me but they seem to have," he paused, thinking, "different motives than me. That caused us a little trouble as well. Sometimes I wonder if they are still loyal to the words they preach."

"Oh?" Lavi hummed interestedly. "Seems to be a common theme among religious sects... division of interests, I mean. I take it you and your colleagues have been butting heads over differing opinions or something, then?" he prompted.

It might be nothing worth paying attention to. Such quibbles truly were common. On the other hand, it could provide a promising lead.

"Oh yes, indeed. Maybe you have heard about some disputes already. Rumors tend to travel fast. Some of my brothers have already quarreled with the group of scholars that travelled here with us. They are searching for the recipe for immortality," he said and crossed himself, "God forgive them for their insolence. What makes me even sadder is the fact that my brothers started to seek something similar! Infinite knowledge, they say!" He cried and repeated the gesture.

Lavi nodded, listening thoughtfully. Something about it struck a chord within him, but if Apollo intended it to, he wasn't sure it struck one in the way he was hoping. He was sure it was meant to, at the very least, _appear_ to be a protest of faith, but perhaps he was protesting just a hint too theatrically. Something about the man's "mortified" declarations didn't quite reach all the way to his eyes to match his mannerisms, and that set off warning bells in the back of the Bookman's mind.

Could he possibly be...?

It wasn't a possibility he was willing to overlook. His instincts were definitely warning him of _something_. He'd best not drop his guard.

"That sort of pursuit is a dangerous one. There's no such thing as infinite knowledge that's actually available to mortal men. Something like that could only lead them to eventual disaster," he acknowledged, before sighing heavily and shaking his head in disregard. "But what can you do? There are always such fools in the world, chasing after fables and temptations that don't really exist, right? Not much to do other than ignore them so you don't get dragged into trouble yourself, or that's what I figure anyway."

"Definitely, but I can't bear to see my brothers fall like this. Our faith is strong but wavering from time to time. I can at least try set the to the right path." He paused as if in thought. "Sometimes, the trouble's worth it. The path might be thorny but if you try hard enough, you'll always end up in the Garden."

"Perhaps..." Lavi hummed. "But it's also been said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions." He paused, before laughing slightly. "Aah, but what do I know? I'm not really a believer in those sorts of things like Heaven and Hell anyway. Maybe in the end, we're all just nutrients recycled back into the earth."

He definitely suspected something was up, but there was no way to simply come out into the open with his suspicions without too many risks involved. At the moment, the only thing he had to go off of to suggest the murderer was among the priests was the word of Apollo, and he wasn't sure he trusted the man. He couldn't report back for certain that the man had anything to do with it though, either, because he had no proof, only a gut instinct, which wasn't enough to potentially sentence a man who might be entirely innocent to get killed.

"Anyway, I do hope you can convince those friends of yours that they're taking a path better left untraveled. Nothing good could come of their search, as far as I can tell."

The priest hummed and tilted his head. He was silent for a while but then shrugged, looking like he just dismissed a stray thought.

"You are right yet again. I will pray for them to return to the right path. I hope they won't end up like the poor murdered men."

Lavi nodded his agreement, though he was silent at first. It wasn't unusual for priests and those working in the churches to know of deaths within the local area, or for them to know the cause of death such as murder.

Pairing the information about the other priests' search and the murders into the same category though was what made it stick out most to him as peculiar. Which only escalated his suspicions.

"You think they're connected somehow?" Maybe the man was only assuming. Maybe he knew something, and he'd slipped without realizing it. Either way, the statement stood out to him.

"Maybe yes, maybe no. I only know a little bit. I happened to stumble upon a lad who was in need of consolation. I have also heard some rumors." He waved his hand. "Have you heard anything interesting?"

A lad in need of consolation? Could that have been...

Lavi had to resist pursing his lips. He'd have to ask later. If it turned out that it had been Allen, or even one of the other assassins, this bit of information could prove bad, depending on how much had been said. He couldn't dwell on it now though, and even if it turned out too much had been exchanged, there was nothing to be done for it now. The past couldn't be undone.

"Not really. Like you said, the locals don't like to tell much to us outsiders," Lavi shrugged. "Makes my task of searching up stories and such quite a bit harder. Seems we both got the short end of the stick, where that's concerned. Anyway, I haven't really heard anything, but if I were to guess, perhaps those scholars your buddies have already had conflict with might have something to do with it? Extremists don't tend to appreciate competition after all."

He was already certain that the scholars had nothing to do with it, since he had checked them out more than a week earlier himself, but revealing how much he knew, if anything at all, could prove fatal. Hopefully that statement would be enough to disarm any suspicions the man might also be hiding towards him.

Apollo stood silently on the road, his face unnaturally neutral.

"I hope not," he said slowly. "Or rather, I don't think so. We have been travelling with them for a good while and their only weapons were their words. They didn't seem like the suspicious kind. Maybe it is more of a local matter." He didn't even blink while he talked. "They seem to be after a special kind of people."

Suddenly, the fact that they were alone in the cemetery became quite unnerving.

"You seem like a man with many connections. You should be careful." He smiled then, just as the church bell sounded and the tense atmosphere was gone. "I would hate to learn that another young man departed untimely."

Was that a threat, or a promise?

Lavi smiled 'nervously'.

"Oh, is that so? Well, thank you for your concern, but I'm not sure that I need to worry. I prefer to keep my head down and nose in books, not in other people's risky affairs, and really it's none of my business anyway so long as it isn't _my_ head someone wants."

"Good to hear that," Apollo said, patting his shoulder. "I'm afraid I have to run. There are still some things I need to prepare for my brothers. It was a pleasure to talk to a lad like yourself. If you need to talk, the door is always opened."

"Thank you, I'll remember that," Lavi smiled nonchalantly, even though secretly his guard was up, in case Apollo tried anything at such close range, even though he didn't.

After he left, his senses were on alert, knowing that he wasn't immediately safe just because they parted ways until he reached somewhere secure, or that he might still be followed. He decided to return to the main Assassin's den for now rather than his own place, just to be certain, and because he was sure Allen would want to know he made it back alive and well.

Besides, it might be a good idea if they talked.

* * *

If it wasn't for Tiedol, Allen would have ended up much worse than he had.

The one deal-done-drink turned into several more, and since Allen was not a skilled drinker like Demir was, he ended up less sober than he should have been.

Thankfully, Tiedol arrived before the sixth round of whatever Demir was ordering came to the table.

When the elder assassins saw his state - messed up hair, coat undone and half-dozing on the pillows - he could only shake his head.

He shook the lad awake, scolded him for being careless and after settling the bill they made their way back to the den.

The moment Allen entered his room, he fell down on his bed and fell asleep, leaving Tiedol scratch his head and sigh at the threshold.

* * *

Since Lavi returned earlier than Allen did, the Bookman had decided to occupy himself with the library, hoping nothing was amiss. He didn't think he needed to worry. Allen was a rather capable person most of the time. Even so, the thought that something might happen, or might _have_ happened, was never far from his mind.

Worrying would do him no good, though. Allen probably at _least_ had other assassins stationed outside wherever he was, if not directly with him. He would just have to wait and see how things panned out.

He wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting when he saw Allen return, but _drunk_ had not really been on his list of guesses. While Teidol was helping him to his bed, Lavi helped himself to the door, slipping out for a short while to get something before he came back.

Finding Allen's room, he lightly tapped the man's cheek with the back of his hand, since the guy was out like a blown-out candle.

"Hey, Allen?"

"Huuuh?" Allen croaked weakly, cracking one eye open to look at the redhead. Everything was so blurry and spinning. He just wanted to sleep so much.

Lavi sighed and shook his head.

"Here, sit up, I gotcha something," he offered up a glass. "Apothecary rose water, and make sure to chew the petals. It'll help lessen the alcohol. If nothing else, it'll reduce whatever hangover you get in the morning somewhat."

Allen sat up slowly and dragged his palm across his face.

"Thanks," he murmured, taking the glass and slowly drinking. "Remind me not to officiate a deal with shady people, please!" He said as he slowly poked his finger into the liquid and picked a petal to chew on. "Anything new?"

Lavi laughed. "That bad, huh?"

He sat on the edge of the bed.

"And not sure... it's _possible_ that the hunter might be hiding amongst the priests, but then again, they might not be... I wasn't able to find out enough to be absolutely certain, but I didn't find out enough to disregard them as possibly involved either."

Allen cursed under his breath. "Even worse," he moaned, gripping his head. "Well, anyway, we are going to be sure soon. I wasn't drinking just for fun this time. You should get some rest. _I_ should get some rest. I am never going to drink with him again," He lamented, shoving the empty glass into Lavi´s hands and falling on the bed again. "Good night."

Lavi blinked at Allen as he threw himself back at his pillow, before chuckling under his breath. It couldn't be helped... Allen was going to need to sleep off the alcohol, and was probably tired anyway. They could talk more in the morning.

He was tempted to just splay out next to the guy, but knew better, especially being in the Assassin den rather than his private place. Besides, he didn't want to overstep his bound.

"Good night," he returned, standing and heading off to leave the den. Sleep would probably do him some good as well.


	18. A Nightmare Long Awaited

Almost three weeks was quite a long time to have to attempt keeping Allen in check while they awaited news of some kind, either from Kanda and the Bookmen, or from Demir. Both were taking their sweet time, but waiting for one was finally rewarded.

Lavi received a return letter that he took back to his private place to view, reading it's contents. Unfortunately, there was potential bad news. It wasn't the worst of what could have been returned, but it wasn't the best either.

He knew that, at the very least, Allen wouldn't be happy about it.

Leaving his own Bookmen-addressed letter, he took with him the one most immediately concerning Allen, heading to the Assassin's den to find the white-haired man.

Allen was sulking in the main room, sprawled across the pillows and smoking his hookah - this time filled with some stronger tobacco. He was nervous and edgy and he was getting restless by every passing day.

The letter should have been back by now!

He hung his head and plopped another grape into his mouth, scanning the room. There were few assassins lazing about, some dozing off, others talking.  
Allen cursed silently and counted the days since Demir promised him the information. Nothing. Still, bloody, nothing!

He took another drag when he heard steps echoed from the corridor leading outside. He sat up and stared at the entrance in anticipation. When he saw the familiar mob of red hair his eyes lit up. "Lavi!" He called. "Any news?"

Lavi nodded acknowledgement.

"We-ll... yes and no," he hummed, coming to sit beside his friend and hold the letter and pendant out back to him. It wasn't a letter from Kanda - it was the same one Allen had written. "I received a response back from one of the other Bookmen, so I know it went through. It seems they weren't able to find Kanda to give him your letter."

Before Allen might have the chance to explode, he quickly interrupted wherever his thoughts might be going.

"Now, that's not _necessarily_ a bad thing. It means they also didn't find a corpse or any record of death, and it also means that they didn't find any trace that he might have been captured or jailed, and Bookmen are very thorough. As far as I can tell, he's simply not in Italy anymore, but the downside to that is that I really have no idea _where_ he is. I'm sorry."

Allen felt cold sweat wash over his body. The smile instantly vanished from his face and with a trembling hand he reached out to take his pendant. He didn't touch the letter, though.

He stared at the jewelry in silence for a while and swallowed hard.

"Thank you, Lavi," he said and then nodded, forcing himself to smile feebly. "You're right. He might have... just left Italy."

Allen knew that it most probably was not just a coincidence. He screwed his eyes shut, trying to force the memories of what happened to him and his dear friend in Italy out of his mind. But how ever hard he tried, he could not make the pictures disapear.

Neah. The same happened to him. They erased him from existence. Allen remembers how he searched for him for months in vain, only to find him half dead when he himself was captured and tortured.

He looked at the pendant again, forcing himself to calm his racing heart. Kanda would not let himself get captured.

Right?

Lavi nodded at the thanks, offering a hand on the other man's shoulder for comfort.

"Look, I know you're worried, but it would probably be best not to think too hard about _what if_ 's. There could be a lot of reasons why they couldn't find him. It could be that whoever he was hunting left Italy and he's still after them, or he could have gotten injured and escaped, and is just lying low to heal until he can continue whatever he needs to do. Maybe he was even just overlooked. Even for a Bookman, there's no way to search absolutely _every_ corner of the country. If something... _happened_ to him, I think we would have heard something about it."

Maybe it wasn't what Allen wanted to hear, but it was the best he could offer honestly.

"And we still have things here that we need to deal with. You're going to need a clear head to deal with your own hunter, once we find out where to find them. Afterwards, we can put more focus on finding out what happened with Kanda, alright? But that isn't going to happen if we're reckless and you get yourself killed, so try not to let it distract you from keeping a level head."

Allen smiled weakly and nodded, squeezing the necklace in his still trembling hand. "Yeah, you're right." There was a pause and Allen distractedly looked around. "I-I´m going upstairs." He stood up, murmuring a silent ´sorry´ and left.

He tied the pendant back around his neck and when he entered his room, he sat down on the bed and buried his face into his palms.

 _Stay rational, stay calm..._ Allen repeated in his mind slowly. _Lavi is right - it could mean nothing._

Lavi sighed silently, not sure whether to stay or follow. He figured that the man needed a moment alone though, so he stayed put for now.

Not more than a few minutes after, one of the assassins returned and briskly walked past, immediately heading up the stairs and making a bee-line for Allen's room. That had him curious, so he followed, though not the entire way.

" _Arkadaşı_ , there was a messenger. I did not recognize him, but he wanted me to pass a message along. He simply told me to tell you _the snake curls in wait for the withered flower_ , and mentioned the Hippodrome in the south Imperial district. Perhaps it means something to you?"

Allen stared at the assassin with wide eyes and mouth opened until his brain digested what his ears just heard. He bolted from the bed too look out of the window quickly but he couldn't see anyone.

"Yes, thank you!" He said with a breathy voice. "Don't tell anyone about it," Allen ordered, patting the man's shoulder and darting out of the room, almost colliding into the bookman. "Lavi! Follow me." The white-haired man gasped, turning the other man around and running off downstairs again and into the tunnels. Allen hastily dug though his robes and pouches until he produced a key that fit into the door he stood in front of.

Lavi blinked and tried to ask what had Allen in such a rush, but didn't quite get the chance as the man spun him around and pushed him forward by his shoulders, going quickly. At the very least, he didn't have to worry about grabbing his spear, since he had been toting it along with him from the start.

"So, uh... this aforementioned 'snake'..." He had no trouble admitting he had been eavesdropping somewhat. "I'm guessing it's this Demir guy?" And what did he mean about a 'withered flower'? Lavi wasn't sure it was his place to ask.

"Yes, it is him. Seems like we are finally going to know the identity of my hunter," Allen answered heatedly as he ripped the door open. Immediately after he entered he undid his sash and began to strip, throwing some of his clothes on the ground and some of them, accidentally of course, on Lavi. "Do you have anything dark to cover yourself with? A cloak? Anything?" He asked, stepping closer to the only thing that occupied the room - a stand with black armor.

Lavi nodded as he heard what Allen had to say. "Let's hope so." He couldn't fail to notice the tone that Allen used, but he guessed that was only natural, after having lost two people to whoever their mystery-man was. Even so, he'd have to keep an eye on Allen, make sure he didn't do anything too reckless. He flinched as an article of clothing landed on him, smirking and peeling it off to drop by the wayside, distracting his eye with the sidelong wall. "And no, not immediately with me... but it shouldn't be hard to get one."

"Go fetch it then," he paused, kneeling on the ground and spreading a thick cloth that lay under the stack. He took out a long belt with small knives. "-and take this, it might come handy." He shoved it into Lavi's hands and began to undo the belts on the armor, carefully putting it on the ground until he could remove the clothes beneath it. "Go get that cloak and wait for me on the roof. I'll be there soon."

Lavi merely nodded his head, turning to head out. The nearby tailor's shop was his destination, and it didn't take long for him to get something, merely a simple solid-colored cloak, nothing too flashy and easy to blend in. While he was at it, he secured the hook-blade Allen had given him before to his arm. Looks like it was finally about to see some real use.

Once he had that done, he waited on the roof just outside where Allen had instructed him to, also keeping an eye out for anything immediately worthy of attention, but nothing stood out as far as he could tell. With any luck, hopefully this entire deal with the murderer would be over soon.

Allen snuck out of the den and climbed the building. He spotted Lavi looking around and ran to him, gently tapping his shoulder.

"Ready?" He asked, last-time checking if anything on his new gear felt out of place. "Let's hunt."

Lavi nodded, stretching his limbs and shaking them out.

"Yeah," he agreed, letting Allen take the lead toward the channel and docks ahead of him at first. They would have to take the ferry to the other side of the city, then head to the far southern side of the Imperial district from there. It was once they were across that Lavi went ahead, since he was a better navigator and knew where the Hippodrome was.

Other than a few testy Byzantines shouting about staying off the rooftops, they went unconfronted, and simply ignored the men to keep moving for the most part. Lavi didn't intend on stirring up unnecessary trouble, and Allen didn't seem to care for anyone except his prime target, who hopefully they would know the identity of soon enough and be able to finish their 'business' with.

Just before they reached the Hippodrome, he paused to pull out his folded spear, snapping it together, just in case, and flicked the hood of his cloak over his head, which had been flown back during their run. The thought that perhaps they could be walking into a trap of some kind wasn't an idea that escaped his mind as a possibility, so he wanted to be prepared.

"Well, this is the place," he mused aloud, his eye scouring the structure as they neared. All except for themselves, it looked empty.

Allen looked around the place, trembling with anticipation. "Where is he?!" He growled silently, looking from behind a pillar.

The place was deserted but he figured that Demir would not just stand in the middle of the Hippodrome and welcome him with opened arms.

He was just about to walk forward when someone grabbed him from behind.

Lavi cursed and whirled around when Allen was yanked aside and flipped around so that his back was to a wall. Demir hummed amusement and his eyes twinkled.

"Hello, little flower~" he purred, having pinned Allen's wrist and hidden blade again, so as not to be stabbed through the neck. "It's been too long." He smiled and his eyes slid sideways to Lavi, who was watching him stone-faced and ready, the point of his spear having already found rest against flesh just beneath Demir's ear in warning. "And you brought along your little Bookman friend. He has fast reflexes," he noted, not overly concerned by the fact that the redhead could lance him through the head at any second if the man chose to.

"Friend of yours?" Lavi prompted, not taking his eyes off Demir or relaxing until he could be sure from Allen.

The nerve of this man!

Allen sighed and rolled his eyes, tapping the hookblade against the man's crotch. "You can say that. Hello, Demir, how have you been?" He asked with faked and exaggerated politeness. "Get off me, would you? I hope you have what I asked for," Allen demanded more than asked, nodding at Lavi to let him know that he could relax. "Also, I would appreciate if you did _not_ call me that!" he threatened with a low growl.

Lavi nodded and eased up, backing off, though not going very far. He could already tell why Allen didn't particularly like the guy, and how bad their first 'meeting' had probably been.

Demir chuckled and finally backed off as well, his voice silky smooth.

"But of course," he hummed, his eyes momentarily scoping out the area carefully before he continued. "You and your friends are very keen, to have suspected the priests. Your little scouts made my job all the easier."

He must have noticed the assassins that had been staking out the place, then, and keeping an eye on the people there, Lavi noted. Must have figured out why they were there. He was definitely a sharp one, the redhead would give him that.

"There's one man among them who is responsible. You may have met him at least once already," Demir smiled, before he paused slightly as a finch sung somewhere distant, his eyes sliding of distractedly at nothing. He lowered his voice slightly. "Apollo Cristaldi. He's your man." He nodded, and stepped back in retreat, further into the shadow of the structure. "And you may not need go searching."

Allen cursed under his breath and unsheathed his dagger. Suddenly, a slow clapping echoed throughout the ruins. The assassin spun around with a savage growl.

"Come out you bastard!" He shouted. The clapping slowly ceased and a figure stepped out from the shadows opposite of them. Lavi caught the hinting quality to Demir's voice just before the man disappeared, just in time for their newly revealed target to appear. Had Demir been followed, or had they? It didn't really matter, Lavi turning to face the "priest" steadily. He should have known - no, he _had_ known - that it was him. He had just needed a little more proof before they could act, to make sure there were no mistakes.

"Congratulations! You have ruined my excellent entrance. And kind of saved me the trouble leading the White Demon away from his den," the man called, but his voice clearly carried the message that he was not happy that his identity was revealed. "Did you like my _heart_ warming present, Allen?" He mocked, putting a hand over his heart.

"You sick monster!" the assassin yelled and charged at the wanna-be priest. Apollo dodged his first swing and countered with his own, making it look as if he drew his own dagger out of thin air. However, he only managed to slash the space where Allen stood a second ago.

Lavi swore as Allen charged forward to attack, readying his own weapon.

"Don't let him taunt you into recklessness!" he called out, rushing forward himself, though notably with less anger than Allen did. He had learned quite some years ago that anger was rarely useful in a fight. Not the kind of anger Allen was exhibiting, anyway. It only fogged the mind and gave the enemy an advantage, and that was the last thing they needed right now. "He just wants you to make a mistake so he can get the better of you!"

Even as he said this, he lunged forward with his spear, more trying to separate them and gain some distance at this point, since he didn't think the blow would actually hit anything vital enough to put an end to it, even though he still aimed his blow as such. Neither of them could simply blindly charge in and expect to get anywhere. Lavi already knew from talking to Apollo before that the man wasn't dull-witted or without calculation. They were most likely going to need a solid strategy to defeat him without either of them also dying in the process.

"You are a nuisance, Mr. Bookman," Apollo scoffed as he bent under the redhead's spear and lunged forward at Allen who mirrored him. Their daggers clashed with a loud screech. He said, grabbing Allen's arm and turning them over, using the man as a shield against Lavi.

Lavi didn't let the words affect him, moving to lunge again, but he was forced to pull back, dancing a few steps away to avoid hitting Allen as he did so.

"You have something I want." The assassin's answer was a kick to his leg, which made Apollo stumble with a muffled grunt and let go of his arm. Allen took another swing but the man was faster and blocked it, drawing another dagger from the folds of his robes and slashing the lad´s thigh which made him back away with a strangled cry. Lavi's eye was watching and he saw the blade flash from Apollo's clothing a second too quick for him to bark out a warning. "Nice pendant you've got there." The fake priest muttered, his eyes flickering to Lavi for a second.

The bookman was more than glad when Allen and Apollo separated, taking that moment to his advantage as he leapt between them, the sharp end of his spear pointed in warning, while he backed Allen off slightly with the blunt end.

"This guy is no novice when it comes to fighting," he said, low and under his breath. Besides that, Allen was already injured. "Whether you like it or not, we're going to have to work together on this one, but the final strike is yours," he promised.

"I know," Allen growled, taking out a smaller blade to throw it at their opponent who easily deflected it. He lowered his voice to minimum and whispered, "Try to make him block your spear with both weapons."

He readied another blade and nodded.

The hunter only stood there, tilting his head. "If you tell me where the thing is I will let you live."

"Keep dreaming!" Allen spat back, throwing the blade and waiting for Lavi to make a move.

Lavi nodded, taking a moment to size up Apollo and his stance, before he leapt forward. His first jab forward missed, and he could see that the man thought he had the advantage since Lavi's weapon was a pole-arm, typically better at mid-range and almost entirely useless in close, which made for an easy target in close-combat.

Most of the time, Apollo would be right to make that assumption and try to close the distance, but in this case it was a mistake. With a swift, deliberate twist, Lavi separated two of the segments and caught Apollo's blade on the chain before it could hit him, smirking at the look of surprise that crossed the man's features.

The man seemed to realize and re-think, leaping back, but he wasn't quite quick enough. Just the same as Lavi had separated the segments, he made them into a whole piece again, swiping upward and catching the pit of the man's arm, not enough to sever it, but enough that it would make it that much harder to fight.

He smirked. Older and more experienced, Apollo might have been, but he was a little less nimble. It was only by a fraction, but it was enough for Lavi to notice, and more importantly take advantage of.

"That the best you got, old man?" he taunted with a small grin, lunging forward with his spear. If he could back the guy into something, he'd have no choice but to block instead of dodge, and then Allen could make his move.

Apollo's answer was a mute angered stare. Before Lavi could hit him he spun around and kicked the redhead's side with more force than expected, leaving him stumbling backwards. So maybe he was a little more nimble than he first let Lavi assume, which he was just realizing a moment too late to keep from getting a heel planted under his ribs, knocking the wind out of him and slowing his reaction time.

Apollo used the moment to attack bit his blade was stopped by Allen's. If Allen hadn't been there to back him up, Laviwould almost certainly have gotten a wound worth writing home about, if he survived it.

They began a lethal dance in the rhythm of metalic clangs and cries of their blades until Apollo unexpectedly jumped forward aiming for Allen's abdomen. A sickening crunch and the assassin's gasp left them both stand frozen for a second.

Lavi drew in several gasps as he tried to recover, his side aching, but he didn't have the luxury of simply sitting at the sidelines. Struggling back to his feet, he watched Apollo swoop in for a deadly blow, only for Allen to block it with his burn-scarred arm. The redhead grit his teeth and leapt forward, aiming his spear-point toward Apollo's side.

"Lucky you." Apollo mumbled, throwing Allen backwards to avoid the tip of Lavi's spear, which only managed to catch and tear cloth, not flesh.

Lavi split the spear in half again, so that he wouldn't have to maneuver the full length, and quickly changed the direction of his swing towards Apollo's own abdomen, but to his frustration, only managed to cut air.

He was rue to admit it, but he had underestimated the man somewhat. It wasn't a mistake he was going to make again, though, taking this fight more seriously than he had moments before, which he should have been doing from the start.

"One at a time ain't gonna cut it, Allen," he momentarily glanced over his shoulder for only a split second, deciding it was probably time to switch tactics. A pincer move was worth a try. "Take whichever side you want, and I'll take the other. He can't fend us both off from separate directions at once." Not effectively enough to keep from taking damage, anyway.

Allen nodded mutely, swaying a little. He could not feel the pain in his left arm but he sure as hell knew that the wound would slow him down whether he wanted it or not. He noticed that he couldn't raise his arm higher than above his waist. He decided to strike from the left side, leaving the right one to Lavi.

As they both jumped him from the side, Apollo did something neither of them expected - arching backwards and throwing himself at the ground. A second after that, Allen felt the ground under his feet disappear. His face hit the ground hard, making black and white spots dance in front of his eyes.

"Fuck!" Lavi swore, watching Allen hit the ground, dazing him. Lavi wasted no time in lunging towards Apollo, kicking him in the chest at the same moment the man was still finding his feet, knocking him a few feet back.

The redhead glanced over Allen, trying to gauge how bad off he was. He wasn't sure how hard he'd hit. He could have escaped with just a bump, or worst case scenario, he could have a concussion or a hurt neck. He didn't have the time to ponder or check, turning his attention back to the enemy. He wasn't sure he could take the guy down on his own, and certainly not without a few wounds, but he could at least hold him off until Allen recovered enough to help him, or someone else arrived to help.

He licked his lower lip in thought, trying to calculate the best course of action. Even if Allen recovered quickly, retreating would be hard, since his leg had been slashed, and carrying him would be too slow to be any good. Telling Allen to escape while he continued to fight wasn't an option, because Allen would never listen to such a suggestion. Wounding Apollo first and then retreating, if they couldn't beat him, was always an option though, but would Allen really agree to leaving without taking revenge for Emil and Timmy first? Probably not. And since no other assassin's had shown up, he guessed they weren't being tailed like usual. Of _course_ the one bloody fucking time they needed back-up, no one was there to provide it. Typical.

The only thing to do, it seemed like, was keep fighting and hope for a miracle, which the Bookman didn't even believe in.

He lunged forward with his spear, but Apollo was still just as fast as ever, and Lavi twisted barely out of the path of a blade that came for his side, sweeping low. He grasped the clasp of his cloak, suddenly glad for Allen's earlier suggestion to get one, and threw it over the man to blind him for a moment, giving him something else to struggle against.

Catching the man's leg with the chain of his spear, he yanked his leg out from under him, sending the man crashing to the ground and thanking the Powers That Be for his own training in combat tactics, because wit was the only thing keeping him from getting killed so far.

"Allen, if you're good to move, now's your chance!"

And the assassin didn't waste it. Ignoring the stinging in his leg and his numb arm, he lunged forwards for the kill. Just as he was going to bring his hand down to finish the man, Apollo threw the cloak aside and thrust his clenched hand in front of him.

"I knew it had to have a deeper meaning, when he struggled so much as I was taking it," he said with a nasty grin. Allen froze in mid-strike, staring at the glistering pendant that dangled from the killer's grasp.

"How...?" He asked with a shaky voice, unable to finish the sentence. His body was no longer listening to the rational side of his mind. Everything faded away, except the pendant and Apollos evil smile.

"I pried it out of his fingers as he was dying."

Lavi was sure that Allen was going to finish it and be rid of his hunter, but it seemed that the sly old bastard still had another trick up his sleeve that Lavi hadn't considered he might have, and that oversight was likely about to turn deadly as his single eye flicked between them and the significance of that pendant and Apollo's words clicked into place like pieces of a puzzle.

It was at that moment that Lavi was _painfully_ aware of how close Allen and Apollo were to each other and that Allen _wasn't fucking moving_ , standing frozen like a statue, and putting him in perfect range for an attack on the older man's part.

 _Damn it all!_ Rules about not getting involved entirely forgotten, he leapt forward and grabbed the nearest part of Allen he could get a hand on, tugging him aside hard so that he wouldn't be where Apollo could strike him quite so easily anymore, brandishing his weapon with his other hand and fully ready to kill with it if it came down to that.

Allen barely noticed hitting the ground where Lavi threw him, struggling to push himself to his feet again but fell back to his knees, staring at the ground. His mind kept screaming at him to move but his body didn't budge.

"No... you're lying!" He whispered.

Apollo laughed as he stood up, throwing the pendant his way. "Such a marvelous and deadly fighter. Too bad he died! Want to hear his last words?" He taunted. Allen gripped his head and yelled. "He died with your name on his lips. So tragic. If you tell me where the Apple is, I will tell you where I dumped his body."

"SHUT UP!" Allen screamed desperately.

Why, why, WHY did it have to be him?! Why Kanda?

The world suddenly felt colder than before. He didn't pay attention to the fight anymore. He didn't care anymore. He dropped the dagger and hit the ground with his fists in rage and frustration.

" _Tch_." Allen was going to be completely useless to fight now. Damn that fake priest. Of all the times for this to happen! He turned his attention back to the man, not wanting to give him the chance to strike first, and especially not since the only thing standing between them now was him. "You shut your damn mouth!"

Apollo was a capable opponent. Lavi hadn't had to work this hard to think of a viable strategy to beat someone else in a long time. Was the man simply _that_ good, or was he just getting that rusty? It didn't matter. He needed to focus.

He traded blows, managed to just barely nick one arm with the tip of his blade, and barely dodged back from getting his face caved in by another blade, a thin line of red left across his check. Had he been even one second closer, he might have been dead. He whirled his blade around to catch the man in the face himself, missed, but didn't stop twirling so that the metal ball on the end swung up and hit him, making Apollo's head snap to the side, though it was more with surprise and irritation than actual force, and rolling his head with the motion just lessened the effect it had.

He locked handle-to-blade, but the downside to having a pole as a weapon was no guard to keep the blade from sliding toward his hands, and he had to let go and back off, catching it as it fell with his foot and kicking it back up to grab.

It seemed more like Apollo was just playing with him at this point, as if Lavi was more a minor nuisance than a threat, and despite his age, he was still surprisingly spry.

Rage. Allen's chest burnt with rage and grief. He forced himself to look up. To see Lavi struggle against that murderer in vain.  
That's right. He is still fighting. He hasn't given up yet.

Then he remembered. He carried another kind of weapon. He reached into the pouch hidden under his sash and slowly stood up.

Apollo paused for a second, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "Oh, how nice of you! You spared me the trouble of finding it!" He called as he struggled against the redhead. "Now, be a good boy and hand it over."

Lavi glanced over his shoulder as Apollo's eyes lit up, seeing the device in Allen's hand, a sinking feeling starting to stir in his gut. Lavi turned back as he saw movement flash in the corner of his eye, but he wasn't quick enough, cursing his own carelessness. Apollo used Lavi's moment of distraction and delivered a merciless kick to his head, sending him flying to the side.

"Be a good boy and don't interfere!" He growled and stalked towards Allen like a hungry wolf would after a wounded sheep.

Allen shakily raised his bleeding arm with the Apple of Eden, his eyes focusing on his hunter. His melancholic gaze twisted into a seething grimace and with a deep breath, he activated the Apple. The arena was immediately filled with golden light and menacing hum of the artifact's power.

Apollo froze in mid-stride and hatefully glared ahead with bloodshot eyes. He growled and tried to move but the thin, golden lights that danced around him held him in place against his will. Ever so slowly, the hand in which he held the dagger rose and the tip of the blade turned against him. Apollo screamed in rage, fighting against the power to that controlled his body.

Everything seemed as if the time has slowed down until Allen unexpectedly gasped and fell to his knee, covering his mouth with his hand.

"You can't keep it up!" Apollo screamed, struggling to get his own knife away from his neck.

Once Lavi started to recover, his head was ringing. For a moment, he thought it was just from the kick, that maybe Apollo had hit him too hard, but he realized with a wince that it wasn't as he flicked his single eye open and gold threads of light danced around all three of them, finding its epicenter at the orb in Allen's hand.

Lavi staggered to his feet, shaking his head, but the dizzying, keening tempest throbbing in his ears wouldn't leave. The fact that this would be a perfect opportunity to take advantage and just stab that Apollo bastard didn't escape his attention, but neither did the fact that Allen was retching up _blood_ , and no small amount of it.

Suffice to say, he chose the latter to rush towards.

"Allen! You've gotta stop!"

"DIE!" Allen yelled in return, completely ignoring Lavi or the fact that the Apple's power slowly sucked the life out of him. Apollo writhed and cursed, the dagger in his hand was biting the skin of his neck but not hard enough to be fatal. A voice echoed from somewhere behind them but the hum of the light was too loud to hear what it was.

"IDIOT!"

The voice came again, this time accompanied by a figure clad in black. The man to whom the voice belonged sprinted into the circle created by golden threads, throwing himself at the Allen kneeling on the ground.

"Let go of it, idiot! Let go!" The stranger held the assassin from behind, one hand curled around his waist, the other trying to rip the Apple from his hand. With a sound of a shattered glass, the golden light and the deafening hum disappeared, and the artifact rolled away from Allen's grasp, leaving him panting in the arms of the black-clad man, and Apollo panting on the ground. The white-haired man felt something touch his forehead. "What have you been thinking?" The man asked.

When Allen opened his silver eyes and looked at the stranger's face, he felt his breath hitch.

"Kanda...?"


	19. Homecoming

Making it toward Allen with any manner of haste was difficult with the way that item was making Lavi's head pound in tandem and his eyes pulse in his skull, wincing and subconsciously raising a hand to put pressure on the one under his patch, as if that might help. It didn't.

He was aware a second later of a figure he didn't recognize - dark clothes; long, black hair; east-Asian features - rushed in. He silently cursed, not sure whether to trust the guy near Allen or treat him as an enemy at this point. And it was so fucking hard to think around that damn _ringing_.

Relief washed over him as that maddening sound swept away like a receding tide as soon as the Apple was pried free of Allen's hands, and the stranger held the white-haired man close in a concerned sort of way, more friend than foe, it seemed.

Reinforcements, he could only hope.

His attention shifted as he realized the Apple had clattered some yards away, and suddenly seemed to remember that Apollo was still very much alive, and very quickly recovering.

" _Merda_!" He leapt for it at the same moment he swore, snatching it up with his spear ready, though he was well aware that he was immediately at a disadvantage with having only one hand free to use, his eye snapping towards Allen and the newly arrived for only a split second, before it was back on Apollo. "I could use a little support over here!"

Apollo raised from the ground, only to wince and stumble backwards, barely catching himself before he fell again.

The black-haired man cursed and carefully laid Allen on the ground, springing up and drawing a long, black, curved blade.

"Didn't expect to see me here, did you?" the man growled, charging at Apollo who spun backwards with only little difficulty, grabbing Lavi's abandoned cloak from the ground and throwing it at the other man.

Lavi watched as the black-haired man didn't simply back him up, but took over the entire fight, slashing and pushing forward with overwhelming tenacity like a one-man juggernaut. In an elegant, lethal sweep, the cloak was disposed of and Apollo was forced to retreat further, barely avoiding the rain of slashes from the man.

"Or... you could just do that..." he muttered. The man didn't seem to need help, so he turned back toward Allen, jogging quickly to his side. He set the Apple down next to him as he sat the man up, checking him over for how much damage he'd taken, and simultaneously keeping his attention on the fight out of his peripheral vision in case he needed to react and defend.

"Jeez... I can't believe you were that stupid," he chastised under his breath, carefully looking over the wounds the white-haired man had sustained. His leg was going to need stitching, and he was concerned for the damage his burned arm had taken as well. He fished a roll of wrappings out of his bag, tying off the wounds tightly so he wouldn't end up bleeding out before they could get back where he could treat them properly. He'd also have to figure out what kind of damage had been done by the Apple to make him start throwing up blood, but he couldn't do that here. "Using a weapon with that kind of recoil... could you possibly be any more reckless? 'can't believe you sometimes."

Apollo fell to the ground a second later but before the blade could land with a final and deciding hit, the fake priest threw a fistful of dust into the black-clad man's eyes and bolted away.

"Run while you can, you fuck!" the Asian called, rubbing his eyes. Instead of following the man, he turned around and walked back to where Allen was.

Lavi glanced up as the black-haired male shouted at Apollo's retreating form, glad to finally have the guy gone, but knowing that it would probably come back to haunt them later. He turned his attention back to Allen, relaxing somewhat.

Worried grumbling aside, he sighed, keeping a steadying arm around Allen's shoulder as he lightly flicked the younger male in the forehead affectionately.

"Seriously, _don't_ do that again, otherwise that Apollo creep is going to be the _least_ of your worries when I'm through."

"Kanda!" Allen croaked weakly.

The man knelt in front of them, picking up his pendant from the floor and carefully taking Allen's injured arm to inspect the wound. "What the hell have you been thinking?! Have you lost your mind? Using the Apple like this!" he scolded, but his stern voice was laced with worry. "And _you_ ," he turned to Lavi with a scornful glare. "Back the fuck off!" he growled, hoisting Allen up and standing. "Grab the Apple, and god protect you if you run away," he ordered, heading back to the docks.

Lavi blinked in surprise as he was addressed, backing off slightly as if intimidated, though he was more simply caught off guard by the man was he came to sweep Allen up and start ordering him around as if he had the authority to do so.

It seemed he was trusted enough at least to handle the Apple heading back...

Or more likely the man trusted himself to gut the redhead alive even _with_ carrying Allen that he wasn't worried.

Mute, he picked up the orb again and trailed a pace or two behind, watching keenly and taking note of the man's features and demeanor. The way he held Allen tightly; the brisk, deliberate steps; the no-nonsense glower that his face seemed almost permanently set in. Everything about how he held himself practically radiated _don't even TRY to fuck with me_ and promised regret if someone did anyway.

So then... _this_ person was Kanda.

* * *

A few words was all it took to tell Lavi that Kanda either wasn't the type or just wasn't presently in the mood for conversation, so for the most part, he stayed quiet, tagging along from a distance. Their way back passed in silence and tension. Whatever conversation Lavi wanted to strike or thought about striking, Kanda answered with a mute, not very friendly, stare.

Once they were at the den, Kanda didn't hesitate to kick down the door and stride in as if he owned the place, barking out orders on all sides. The den sprang to life as if the devil himself entered, everybody scrambling out of the way to make sure to avoid his wrath. Lavi couldn't help but smirk slightly as he watched the assassins scatter, though perhaps that ought to tell him something. Maybe they were just easily intimidated, though, whereas Lavi wasn't. He normally pretended more than he actually got intimidated. Reactions were always fun.

Tiedoll came sprinting upstairs with hot water and clean linen cloths almost at the same time as Kanda laid Allen on his bed and they both began to tend to his wounds. Lavi was going to offer himself up to tend to the wounds, but it seemed like Teidol and Kanda had it handled, and after the looks the raven-haired man gave him earlier, he decided it better just to stay silent for now. At least until things relaxed a bit.

Since it appeared his help wasn't needed, instead he sat back out of the way where he could still watch and couldn't help but examine the Apple curiously, taking note of every crevice and line, tracing the small glowing channels along its surface with a finger. He wasn't fool enough to try using it, especially not after seeing the effect it had had on Allen, nor after experiencing that searing headache from before. Besides, he had been in touchy waters even before the guy known as Kanda had shown up, and he recalled Emil having said something about needing to be on the guy's good side, so he wasn't about to try making himself suspicious.

After a good hour of cleaning and sewing, Kanda sat on the floor next to the bed and sighed, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. Between Teidol and Kanda, they did a relatively good job treating Allen's wounds.

Maybe it was just because Allen was so reckless, though. Practice made perfect, after all.

When it seemed like they were done, he idly hopped to his feet and peered his head in closer, examining the treated wounds from what he deemed a safe enough distance.

"Nice job," he hummed, deliberately trying to sound mildly impressed. They weren't complicated wounds to treat. He certainly wouldn't go so far as to say they were superficial, but they were the type anyone with basic first-aid or battlefield treatment training could pull off with experience. "You really seem to know what you're doing."

At this point he was mostly trying to gauge what sort of person Kanda was and how to act around him.

Kanda answered with a stern face and a haughty, raised eyebrow. He sized Lavi up from head to toes several times, still completely silent and just as he drew breath to comment, Tiedoll stepped in from the side, enveloping the man in a fatherly embrace. The black-haired man sighed, momentarily closing his eyes in exasperation.

"My son!" Tiedoll sobbed into his shoulder, "I am so glad to see you aright!"

Kanda looked as if he was summoning all his powers not to push the man away. With a roll of his eyes he sighed again and spoke.

"Jeez, old man, let me go. You're ruining my coat."

"But Yuu! I was so worried!"

"Yeah, I know. Whatever. You're making a ruckus. Remove yourself." He huffed, visibly having problems with keeping his temper down. "The sprout needs rest, go away," he ordered, finally pushing the old man away.

Lavi didn't waver at all as Kanda sized him up, staring back perfectly calm, but a smile broke across his face as he watched Teidol practically throw himself around Kanda in that fatherly, doting manner in which he functioned. He couldn't help but be amused, thinking that Kanda looked every bit the child-embarrassed-to-be-seen-with-their-parent sort of look, even though, as far as Lavi could tell, Teidol's "parentage" was surrogate.

At the last part of Kanda's statement, he couldn't help but burst out laughing, leaning on the doorway. He could feel unpleasant eyes on him and figured he should explain himself, since Kanda obviously wasn't the humorous type.

"Wow, this is really somethin' else! You figured out the same nickname for him as I did!" he laughed, referring to Allen, of course.

Kanda squinted then, unsheathing his sword. In a short instance, the blade was menacingly pressed against the redhead's throat. Lavi tensed and pointedly tilted his head back slightly away from the blade, flashing the faintest of nervous smiles.

"Before I forget," the black-clad assassin began, his voice dropping several octaves lower, "who may you be? I don't remember ever seeing your face, nor do I believe I heard anything about you, rabbit!"

"Wow, two nicknames in one go. Is that a natural talent, or...?" He could tell he was quickly wearing out whatever patience this Kanda person had, and decided to jump back to answering the question, before he found himself missing a head. "Name's Bookman, or Lavi. Either one works just fine."

"Let's not do things we could regret later," Tiedol jumped in, carefully taking the blade between his fingers and pointing it away from Lavi. The look with which Kanda returned the statement sent the clear message that the man would not regret a thing. Tiedol tried to pacify the man in his native language it appeared but after a short barky answer, the older man sighed and shrugged.

"Get out. Both of you."

Tiedoll discreetly pushed Lavi out and once they crossed the threshold, the door slammed close.

"Rabbit?" Allen whispered from the bed, smiling feebly.

Kanda sheathed his sword and sat on the floor next to him, leaning his head against the bed. "Shut up, idiot."

"I missed you too," Allen managed to answer before he fell asleep.

* * *

Lavi only held his hands up in a placating manner, smiling wryly at Kanda until he was led out.

"Man, the temper on that one!" He chuckled slightly. "Is he always like that?" He glanced to Teidol in question, having no problems following him since it seemed Allen's room just became off-limits.

"Oh, but he's at his best behavior right now," Tiedol piped in, innocently, rubbing his mustache. "I'm just kidding," he added quickly when he saw Lavi's eyebrows shoot up. "He's always like that. But oddly enough, he already branded you with a nickname!" He laughed heartily, "he likes you already!" And with a few short pats on the bookman's shoulder, he stalked downstairs. "You can rest, they won't come out anytime soon - they both might even be passed out already!" He joked, waving his hand. "You can join me for a smoke downstairs if you want."

Lavi smirked. "If that's how he treats people he likes, I don't even want to _know_ how it'd be to be on his bad side," he mused with a little laugh. Teidol's words of reassurance were a little uplifting though. At least he wasn't being regarded as an enemy. Hopefully that would last, since Kanda appeared to be an easy person to piss off.

All the same, the overwhelming temptation to exploit that for kicks was definitely a thought that crossed his mind. Someone _that_ testy was guaranteed to pull some fun reactions.

He thought about dismissing himself back to his own private place, but thought better of it, at least for now. Allen might get too restless with worry not being able to see for himself the bookman was safe so soon after they'd just been confronted by Apollo, and the redhead didn't want the man to end up straining his wounds.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind," he agreed. He really needed to unwind, anyway, still feeling the effects of adrenaline that hadn't quite worn off. He should probably take the time to wash out his wounds, too, subconsciously swiping a thumb over the dried scratch on his cheek. None of them were bad, only shallow scrapes and cuts, but it would be annoying if they were to get infected and sore.

Tiedol sat down in the corner where Allen would usually sit, his back facing the wall so he had a nice view of everything that was going on in the hall. He set up the hookah and connected two pipes to it, handing one to Lavi and keeping the other one.

"You need to forgive him for his brash demeanor." The old man began, taking a slow long drag. "He has always been like that, so, please, don´t take it personally. He is probably going to be a little more... edgy now. As you could have guessed, his mission didn´t go according the plan."

Lavi listened before plastering an easy-going smile on his face, waving off what Teidol had to say.

"You don't need to worry about that. You said you've heard about us bookmen before, right? Then you should know we're not the types to take much of anything personally," he reassured.

He paused a moment for a drag, appreciating it more than he thought he would after the day they'd just had.

"Anyway, his mission didn't go the way he would have liked, but obviously that Apollo person's plans didn't either. I wouldn't say it was a victory, but I don't really think it was a defeat, either. For the moment, that's better than nothing. We all still escaped with our lives today and Apollo still doesn't have this-," he set the Apple on the table between them. "-and I figure that's worth being happy about, if nothing else. Things could have gone a lot worse than they did."

"Aah, this," Tiedoll sighed unhappily, shaking his head. "The source of all problems. I always tend to wonder how easier life would be without it." He took a drag again and stared into distance in reminiscence. "I remember the day I warned Yuu not to get involved with this kind of stuff," he huffed out a short laugh, "but as you may have noticed, my son is not the type that listens to anyone but himself. I am not a superstitious person but I somehow felt it would only bring us misfortune." Another short laugh. "In the end, I was wrong." The man looked at Lavi, his eyes twinkling with mirth. "Thanks to this artifact, Yuu met Allen - the boy changed him so much. He even smiles from time to time now!" Tiedoll sniveled, giving into his fatherly side again.

Lavi nodded as he listened, remaining silent for a time as he let Teidol talk. He could see why something like that would bring trouble. Even things that didn't exist, which promised some sort of great reward or power most didn't have, led people down dangerous paths against others adamant to obtain it. All the greater danger when one of those fabled items turned out to be real. It always tended to attract the wrong kind of attention.

He smirked at Teidol's mention of Allen and Kanda's relationship, and how sentimental he got over simply talking about it, before his single eye slid over to the other assassins that occupied the den. He wasn't sure he would go so far to say that he was _trusted_ by most of them, but they seemed to be relaxing more to his presence. Less suspicious of him as possibly being some sort of potential enemy.

"But I digress." His tone suddenly changed. He looked around the den slowly, taking in the faces of all the present assassins. "You may be wondering why is it so crowded today and why haven't we sent out men to hunt."

"I have a few guesses," Lavi replied, casually leaning back and stretching slightly. "But I figure I'll just let you tell me, rather than assuming."

Tiedoll smiled under his mustache and scanned the room lazily again. "It's because we have a spy here," he said calmly, as if he was talking about weather.

Just as he finished his sentence a slow, almost doomingly slow sound of footsteps echoed from the staircase.

Lavi merely nodded discreetly with a silent 'ah', resting his cheek on palm and took another drag of the hookah at the same moment he was aware of the air becoming thick with tension. He didn't really have to turn his head to know who it was descending the stairs, even the harsh footsteps alone gave it away, if not the aura that practically radiated off the raven-haired man.

A moment after that, Kanda Yuu's body emerged from the darkness of the stairs, his face a perfect passive mask. Only his eyes seemed to shine with something dangerous. What was more curious was watching everyone else fall still and silent, on alert like hares ready to spring for their warren, but stock still and too worried that the movement of fleeing would bring the predator down upon them. He could almost sense the unified thought process that _someone_ was going to royally get it, and probably not survive many minutes longer, but he didn't dare say anything more than the rest of them.

The whole hall fell silent, everybody pausing to look at the black-clad assassin who suddenly resembled a hungry panther than an actual person. It was incredible how a man's presence could fill the whole room and made everyone pause.

It was deathly silent.

Kanda took his while to drag his eyes across the room, appearing almost bored and disinterested at first sight, but every man with better senses could tell that whoever catches his eye is most probably not leaving the den alive.

Tiedoll made himself comfortable on his cushions, taking yet another long drag from the pipe.

The black-clad assassin took a menacing step forward, followed by another one and another one and he slowly made his way through the room, his eyes scanning every present face, his left hand idly sitting on the scabbard of his sword. When he reached the middle of the room, he seemed to make a double-take, stopping in mid-stride. Suddenly, the dangerous aura around him took a more murderous hue.

His right hand reached for the swords handle and as he drew it, ever so slowly, the air was filled with the metallic hum of the blade. It was as if the katana sang in anticipation for blood.

The tip of the sword ended on the neck of the visibly nervous assassin sitting on Kanda's left side. Moving nothing but his arm, Kanda forced the man to stand up on his wobbly legs and move in front of him, where he squinted at his face.

"Still as sharp as ever," Lavi heard Tiedoll utter under his breath.

"I remember your face," Kanda spoke with an arctic tone. The man in front of him loudly gulped, his eyes widening. "What I _don't_ remember is sending you here from Italy."

"Wait! I can explain!" The man gasped, raising his hands in surrender. "I can-" Kanda, however, was not in the mood to hear excuses. He thrusted his blade forward into the man's neck. It was almost sickening to see how easily the blade cut through his neck - like a knife into butter.

Lavi didn't react when he saw Kanda slice the man's throat, but there was one word that came to mind after watching it:

_Merciless._

But then, he was among the Assassins. Mercy wasn't a common theme, and especially not when there was a war raging, however small and contained it may be.

The man fell on the ground, gurgling and choking on his own blood. Kanda calmly lowered the sword, taking another look around.

His eyes momentarily stopped on Lavi. It looked like he was considering a thought. Or warning the bookman, daring him to make a mistake. Lavi didn't let himself be afraid. He would admit, Kanda was a person with presence and capability, that much was certain, but it would take more than a nasty look to send the red-haired man scurrying for cover. Kanda's best weapon may have been his sword, but Lavi's was his composure in any situation.

Kanda's eyes flickered to Tiedoll then and with a barely concealed exasperation, he sighed and sheathed his weapon.

"Make sure the hunter doesn't leave the city," Kanda ordered and immediately after that, a good two dozen men raised and hurriedly left the hall.

"A job well done," Tiedoll commented loudly enough for Kanda to hear.

"Whatever. I'm going back to bed," the man snapped back, massaging his neck. That earned him a few, a little bit too-nervous chuckles.

"It makes sense," Lavi hummed after Kanda had retreated, idly yawning with head still rested on his cheek. The events of the day were starting to catch up with him now that the adrenaline was wearing off. "Why Apollo was able to find out where we were when we went to talk to that man. I was wondering which of our sides had the leak, but I had the feeling it wasn't on Demir's end. Now it makes perfect sense."

Tiedoll hummed, nodding slightly. "Good to see you've passed the test." He commented, grinning. "You've got some nerves, I give you that!"

Lavi laughed lightly.

"You're talkin' to someone that's speared Great White's on the open waters and chases war for a living! It'll take more than that guy's sour face to get to me!" he jibed in return, grinning. "Skilled or not, even if he tried it, I highly doubt he'd succeed at killing me. He may be a skilled swordsman but no one can dodge like I can!"

He almost snorted and thumbed over his shoulder at what few assassins were still lingering after Kanda's orders to make sure Apollo couldn't leave, lowering his voice.

"These guys already tried and failed." He saw the brief look that crossed Teidol's face and went on to explain himself, before the man might get the wrong idea. "Allen and I sort of got into a prank war and, if you didn't already know, Allen's a dirty cheater. I still don't even know what he told them but they really had it out for me, for all of a day, at least."

"Glad to hear that you are not that easily discouraged then," Tiedol laughed heartily. "And so I've heard. They may or may not have asked me to keep an eye on you around him." His face then sobered somewhat. "Be a little bit more cautious around Yuu, though. He tends to be a little bit protective at times. I have no doubt he's going to hear about your little prank war from his men and it surely isn't going to sound playful from their point of view."

He rubbed his mustache in thought and patted the redhead's shoulder.

"Anyway, I think you're gonna be just fine! I dare to hope that you'll be good friends in time!" He laughed again, standing up, sighing as he looked at the body slowly bleeding on the floor. "I guess I should get someone to help me with that. You go take a rest - I can see that you need it."

With a wave of his hand he headed towards a small group of assassins, most probably asking them for help with the body.

"Oh and one more thing!" the old man called, briskly walking back to Lavi and lowering his voice to a whisper. "I'd advise you to," he pause, visibly looking for the right words, "knock and wait for the answer before you enter Allen's room." He nodded thoughtfully for himself and patted Lavi's shoulder again, as if not sure how to explain better. "You know. If you... well, just knock."

Lavi stared at the man for a moment silently, it taking him a moment, before his mind wound back to what Teidol was saying. Maybe he was just tired. He certainly felt it, so it only stood to reason he was a little slower than usual. He nodded understanding and stretched as he stood, deciding it probably better not to linger on the topic.

Considering a few other details he'd picked up on during his time there, he didn't have to think hard to guess what the man meant.

"I'll be sure to do that. Anyway, the 'sprout and his temperamental friend aren't the only ones needing sleep," he chuckled softly, before turning for the library, since he'd decided to hunker down in the den instead of his own place for the night. "Anyway, thanks for the smoke," he added, before retreating.

Finding a pillow not already in use by someone else, he made himself comfortable on the floor, too drained to bother with reading, and soon enough he was sleeping soundly.


	20. Rigidity

Lavi hadn't thought he'd miss his bed quite as much as he did at the moment. He still ached somewhat from the day before and sleeping on the floor probably hadn't helped.

"I must be getting old," he groaned, before laughing to himself slightly. "Maybe I'm starting to turn into the old Panda, in more than just title."

Sighing, he stretched out some of the aches before standing. Washing up, at least somewhat, was the first order of business. He frowned slightly as the dried scratch on his cheek stung and started bleeding lightly again, but it couldn't be helped. He'd kept telling himself that he'd remember to take care of it the night before, but somehow it had slipped his mind. It was his own fault if it was tender.

Doing a satisfactory enough job, he decided to see how Allen was fairing. Hopefully Kanda might be in somewhat of a better mood now too. He came to stop at the door, and still recalled what Teidol had said, stopping just outside to knock rather than simply go in. He stopped before he could tap on it as he heard voices bickering inside heatedly.

"You are being ridiculous!" came Allen's muffled, rather pissed off voice from behind the door. "Do you think I'm just going to sit here and do nothing? NOW when we know who he is?"

There was an exasperated sigh - undoubtedly Kanda's. "Damn you're annoying. Of course you're going to keep your ass in here." A pause. "Put your foot on the ground and I'm going to strap you down against the bed," Kanda warned with a low growl.

"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Allen mocked sarcastically, but by the sound of it, he didn't dare to get up.

"Yes, I would," came a snappy reply. There was a shuffling of clothes and clinging of belt buckles. "You sulking now?" Kanda asked nonchalantly. A sigh. "Five days of rest and you're free to do whatever you want afterwards."

"Three," Allen huffed angrily.

"Four, and that's my last offer, you little asshole. Otherwise I'm gonna tie you down and lock you up. I'm not joking," Kanda warned.

" _Fine_ , four. And try not to kill him. He's my friend."

Lavi couldn't help but smirk listening to Allen and Kanda arguing like a badly matched couple. Which, as far as Lavi could tell, they were. But whatever, his business or otherwise - and it really wasn't - it was amusing.

"Whatever," Kanda grumbled, sharply opening the door. When he turned around, he paused for a second and grinned. "Well, look who's here!"

Lavi hung back a moment as the door swung open before offering up a nod and a smile, his eye flicking between them in uncertainly.

" 'morning to ya! I'm not... interrupting something, am I?"

"Not really," Allen quickly intervened from behind. Kanda looked as if he wanted to turn around and protest but decided against it.

"You saved me the trouble of finding you. Now hand it over," the black-haired man said, sticking out his hand with his palm facing upwards. Allen sighed and rubbed his forehead, laying back down with a low grumble under his breath.

Lavi blinked dumbly for a moment before he suddenly seemed to recall what Kanda was asking for and fished the Apple out of his bag, figuring that was what Kanda meant. He had been so tired he'd almost forgotten he had it.

What else could he mean, anyway?

"This, right?"

Kanda's eye twitched. He snatched the Apple from Lavi's hand and spun around, almost hitting the redhead with his hair as he did so.

"Here," he threw it at Allen who caught it with ease. "You do that fucked up stunt again, I'm gonna throw it into Marmara and nobody is ever going to find it. Ever."  
He strolled back to the door where Lavi still stood. "The fuck are you looking at? Turn around and walk away."

"Kanda!" Allen yelled from the bed, scolding the man.

"Tch." The black-clad men looked torn between staying and walking out but in the end he decided for the latter, throwing Lavi a last look of disdain.

"Sorry," Allen apologized when the man's steps faded downstairs.

Lavi merely shrugged after Kanda pushed past him, the redhead watching him leave, curiously. Seemed he'd have to wait to find out more about the man. Lavi wasn't sure if he was in a bad mood or if he was just in a normal state.

He could worry about that later, though.

"It's fine. It doesn't bother me," he reassured, waving it off. "Anyway, speaking of pulling stunts, how are you feeling? Wounds bothering you at all?" he questioned, stepping forward properly now and giving Allen a critical look-over. "I can get you something for it if you need anything for pain or inflammation."

Allen smiled unhappily. "I'm fine," he said weakly, but he really didn't look like it. He was pale as a sheet - his skin looked as if it suddenly became transparent - and there were dark circles under his eyes. He seemed more tired than usual and his hands were slightly trembling. "I'm still a little uneasy around my stomach, though," he added sheepishly.

"No, you're not fine," Lavi stated, taking note of all these signs. He reached a hand out and placed his wrist against Allen's forehead, trying to figure out if he was too cool or too warm. "You might have anemia... possibly internal bleeding from whatever that device did to you. Describe to me what you mean by 'uneasy', like, sick? Anxious? I need specifics."

Allen sighed once more, half shrugging.

"It's just the sickening taste of blood and churning. It's like I haven't eaten anything in days - which I didn't. Really, it's fine. It's not like I haven't gone through this before," he admitted, smiling like a guilty child. "That's why Kanda is so pissed off." He really felt miserable, but it's not like he's going to moan about it. "You don't need to worry yourself. It's bad enough Kanda is bitchy about it."

Lavi pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something incomprehensible under his breath, sounding exasperated, before looking back up.

"Whatever you may say, he's right to be concerned. That isn't _'nothing to be worried about'_ , that's a very serious problem, Allen. Not something you can just act like everything will be fine if you ignore it long enough." He shook his head like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Now you're going to let me check you over and figure out the extent of the damage, otherwise that pissy buddy of yours won't be the only one tying you to the bed," he thumbed over his shoulder in the direction Kanda had gone. The tone he used left no room for argument.

Allen shook his head, his eyes hardening. "I'm gonna tell Kanda you're molesting me." He saw Lavi freeze and arch an eyebrow at him. He laughed. "No checking. Kanda was pretty thorough with that last night. You need to trust me on this. The only thing I'm gonna ask of you is get me some proper food. Meat, preferentially." Another sweet nothing-is-wrong smile that covered his distressed thoughts. No need to worry more people with his condition.

Lavi pursed his lips and straightened up, falling silent as he turned his head to look elsewhere with his hands on his hips.

_Suddenly now that Kanda's here, you don't trust me to help you even though I can?_

The biting quip was just waiting on his tongue, but he didn't say it, nipping the inside of his cheek instead. Maybe it was his own fault, anyway. He hadn't really spared much thought towards acknowledging it, but he had known since seeing Allen again all these years later that something between them was broken, and he really had no one else to blame but himself with how he'd left.

And in a really shitty way, too.

Kanda was there for the man in a lot of ways Lavi couldn't be, even if the guy was a bit of a jerk about it, so it only stood to reason Allen trusted him more.

Logically, he knew it was perfectly reasonable, but it still stung.

"Have it your way," Lavi said finally, shrugging and forcing himself to sound like he really didn't care if the younger male wanted to be stubborn about it. "But you're the one that's going to have to live with the consequences of refusing treatment."

"I'm already living with them," Allen murmured to himself silently, staring at his hands. He tucked the Apple into the corner under his pillow and chuckled. "Kanda is bringing a medic later, if it makes you feel better. Anyway, how are you? I'm not the only one getting out with wounds. Apollo kicked you around pretty harshly too."

"Yeah but unlike _someone_ with an insatiable reckless streak, I didn't gut much more than scratches and maybe a bruise or two," he returned, trying to at least assume the role of being playful once again. He quickly added for good measure, "Besides, you know how my old man is. Getting kicked around was half of my apprenticeship."

"Yeah," Allen chuckled, but it quickly turned into coughs. He raised his hand to stop Lavi from fussing over him. "It's alright. I'm fine." He tried to hide the blood on his hand, but failed miserably. His face twisted into an unhappy grimace. "Anyway, want to eat something?" he asked, quickly changing the topic before Lavi could comment. His stomach grumbled like a hungry beast. "I'm afraid you're going to have to fetch some food for us." He grinned, scratching the back of his head.

Lavi looked as though he wanted to argue, but in the end, he just gave in and nodded his agreement, unusually compliant given the circumstances.

"Yeah, I'll get us something to eat," he said distractedly, turning to leave and do just that. At the very least, he wasn't completely useless, and Allen wasn't entirely stubborn enough about how 'fine' he was to insist on getting his own food on top of it. The red-haired bookman was thinking to himself what else he could do to help, even though Allen didn't seem to want to accept as much, perhaps in a way Allen didn't know he was helping. He couldn't refuse that, then, right?

If he got something with lots of fresh garlic in it... that would be good, given it's anti-bacterial properties on the immune system. He remembered Chives were good for treating anemia if eaten, which Allen was _definitely_ suffering from. Hyssop might be good to include in case Allen might have respiratory trouble. And if he brewed a Yarrow tea, that would help any internal bleeding the stubborn man might have, and also using Perennial Foxglove in the brew would help protect and strengthen his heart if it was having a hard time.

He smirked to himself in his own silent sort of victory. Maybe Allen was determined not to let him help, but that didn't mean he'd deterred the redhead from actually doing so.

He went about getting food and boiling water for tea, along with the herbs he'd compiled a list of in his head, and brought them back to Allen's room after a short time.

"I have returneth with sustenance!" he announced both merrily and dramatically.

Allen dozed off for a while and he didn't even know how long it took, but he was glad when Lavi's voice woke him up again because his stomach really hurt - whether it was from the lack of food or an after effect of using the Apple, he didn't know.

"Wow!" He gasped, seeing what the bookman brought. His eyes sparkled and his mouth instantly started to water. "This looks incredible!" He dug into the food just as soon as it was within his reach, sniffing the tea curiously as he stuffed his face. "Aw man! You need to do this more often!" Allen moaned. It really took so little to make him happy. "Haven't eaten anything like this in a long time! Remind me to refresh my foods with garlic more often!"

Just like a child.

"Wonderful, just wonderful," Allen sighed in satisfaction as he laid down and yawned. "I feel so much better now. Thank you so much, Lavi." He smiled, covering himself with his blanket.

Lavi was beaming.

Part of it was just because of knowing that, whether Allen knew it or not, he had still managed to find a way around that stubbornness to help. It wasn't every day he could brag that he, technically, out-cheated _the_ master of cheating, and for a good cause to boot.

The other was purely for the attention of what he'd whipped up and outpouring of praise, which really made for the cherry on top. He really did like having his ego stroked, when he could actually get it. Maybe it was just because his old mentor was such a harsh teacher and nigh impossible to impress. In that way, he was mutually very easy to please, so it was a win/win for both of them.

At least he could still make Allen smile for him, when it came to food.

"Glad you like it! And I'm surprised you need reminding to stock up on garlic. It's good stuff," in more ways than just taste.

"So what is your plan now? You still gonna stay with us?"

"I'm not sure. I think I'll still be in town a while. It depends on if it sounds like there's anything else big happening that needs my attention, but so far it seems pretty quiet. Seems like things might get a lot more interesting around here though, given a little more time, huh, 'sprout?"

With something like the Apple in the Assassin's possession, something worth recording was bound to happen eventually. It really was more of a 'when', rather than an 'if', scenario.

"Cut the stupid nickname, would you?" Allen grumbled half-heartedly, snuggling deeper into the blanket. "We really don't need to get anymore excitement here," Allen began, looking Lavi in the eye. "You should take rest too. Have a break from all this stuff. I hope that once we deal with that bastard, everything's going to get back to normal. As normal as it can get with the Templars still lurking around the city."

He sat up then, wincing slightly but trying to cover it up.

"My suggestion from before still stands. Nobody would blame you if you left. I know you are not weak," he added hastily, looking rather nervous and a little bit out of breath, "-and I know things got a little bit better now that we know who he is. But if he somehow manages to get to you... I-I don't know what I would do." He buried his face into his palms. "It got out of control yesterday. I felt so powerless. Suddenly, I feel like things are going to get much worse."

Lavi nodded, understanding his fears. Apollo was a skilled person, but even so, they really could have gotten off a lot worse the day before. That was partially in thanks to Kanda, but both he and Allen were skilled as well, and Apollo had been playing dirty in the worst of ways.

"Things got out of hand because Apollo tricked you into thinking he'd killed Kanda. If it wasn't for that one moment where he blindsided you with that false claim, you probably would have managed to kill him, and without ever resorting to using the Apple on top of that. Since Kanda's here and you know he's alive now for sure, not only did he lose that trump card, but we gained one over him, since now he has _three_ highly skilled people to worry about. Injuries aside, we won more than we lost out of that fight," he reasoned. "Not to mention, he's lost his spy here. At the moment, we have the advantage. I don't think he'll be making any bold moves too soon with how the tables have turned. He'll need time to regroup and reorganize his strategy, especially with all of the assassins actively on the hunt and knowing his identity now."

He smiled and ruffled Allen's hair affectionately.

"What I'm saying is, don't stress too much over it. Worry about healing, and then we can _all_ worry about dealing with Apollo after you're back to full strength. And as for me, I know how to take care of myself. I won't be offed that easily. Count on it."

Allen sighed, hugging himself protectively. "Yeah, you're right. You're absolutely right. I´m sorry. I am just... overthinking it." He rubbed his forehead.

A knock on the door interrupted them. Tiedoll walked into the room with his arms full of apples.

"Hello!" he greeted, dumping the big, round, green apples on the table. "I brought some goodies!"

And so, they spent a good hour talking about easy topics and gossips Tiedoll picked up across the city, peeling the fruits and handing them to the white-haired assassin.

Since he hadn't made himself something to eat, having been focused on making Allen's breakfast and sneaking in the medicinal herbs, Lavi was more than happy for the fruit Teidol appeared with, mainly just snacking here and there. It never ceased to amaze him that, even now, Allen could scarf down a whole breakfast _and_ still have room for more.

The company was pleasant. Teidol was a decent, intellectual person to hold conversation with, something that the redhead had quickly picked up on after the man had first arrived. Between all three of them, Allen was the least talkative, probably on account that he wasn't feeling good, but he didn't mind.

What he was noticing was that Kanda _still_ hadn't returned after storming off. He couldn't help but wonder if this was a regular occurrence, that he went off and disappeared for a good many hours, even after having only just arrived, or if there was more to it than that. Something else going on that he wasn't aware of.

"That temperamental friend of yours sure ran off again in a hurry," he noted idly, sitting cross-legged on the floor, leaning his shoulders against the bed and tilting his head back at Allen. " 'he always disappear like this?" The part he didn't speak aloud being _even when you're in the kind of condition you're in?_

Kanda didn't exactly strike him as the type to be very patient in matters of taking the time out of his day to see to someone else's needs, but even so, when he and Allen hadn't seen each other in so long? And after the kind of trouble they'd both escaped from the day before?

"Oh," Allen mumbled, smiling awkwardly. "Well, I pissed him off a little bit in the morning, so he kinda stormed off to calm himself down, but I guess the main reason was that he was going to get our medic. I remember him saying that he brought someone from Italy," he explained between bites.

Tiedoll hummed thoughtfully, setting his knife down and crossing his arms on his chest. He glanced out of the window, staring at the sun as if calculating how long would it take until his temperamental son came back.

"He sure is taking his time..."

Allen waved his hand in dismissal. "I'm sure he has many things to take care of. He hasn't been here for a while."

"You're right," Tiedoll agreed, shrugging. "Anyway, I have something to deal with too." He stood up, scratching his head. "You get well soon, my boy." He turned around to leave but stopped when he heard the door slam somewhere on the first floor. "Oh, I believe he is back."

A few seconds after that, hurried strides echoed from the hallway along with several arguing voices and then Kanda appeared in the doorway, a scowl present on his face as usual.

"Out!" He growled. "All of you."

Lavi blinked as Kanda stormed in, once again, as if he owned the place.

Okay so maybe technically he _did_ own the place - did he? - but even so, would it kill him to ask instead of command? But whatever. It wasn't like it was the first time he'd have dealt with such a kind of person.

The bookman didn't immediately hop to leave, despite being aware that the guy probably didn't like him all that much. Maybe Teidol had said differently, but the redhead was sure there were limits to that. As far as he could tell, Kanda's version of 'liking' someone was "I'm not going to kill you today". Not so much how most people 'liked' others.

"Where's the fire-...um...?" he trailed off, tilting his head in thought a moment. What should he call him, exactly? Because he was getting two different names now, between Allen and Teidol. He still had no idea which was the given name and the surname. "Is it Yuu Kanda or Kanda Yuu?"

Allen covered his mouth in shock, wonder, and something dangerously close to amusement.

Kanda's face took a murderous look as he slowly turned towards the redhead, but before he could say anything or draw his sword, a short, fair-haired man in white clothes stumbled into the room.

"Oh, Allen!" he called, his voice colored with an accent that was definitely not from anywhere in Europe. The assassin's face instantly lit up and he waved back, although he still kept an eye on Kanda.

"Hello Bak! How have you been?" he asked, laughing when the short man put his hands on his hips and sighed.

"Certainly better than you!" Bak shook his head. He strode into the room, bowing his head shortly in greeting to Tiedol and brushing past Kanda with a total disregard of his murderous twitching. Right after him, another man stepped in - much older and much grayer. He, too, paused to bow to the old assassin but his bow was deeper and longer. He silently murmured something to the man, moving aside so he can leave.

"Get out, rabbit. Before I make a rug out of you," Kanda threatened, "and don't you dare call me by my first name ever again."

"Kanda..." Allen sighed from the bed, gesturing for him to come over.

The gray haired man suddenly intervened, holding his hands together in front of his chest as in reverence, trying to interrupt Kanda's raging.

"I have to ask you to leave, sir," he said to Lavi with the same thick accent as the younger man. His voice carefully professional and had a slight undertone of boredom - as if he'd had to deal with this situation many times. "Kanda-donno, please, calm down. We don't need any more patients."

Kanda 'tsk'ed and after he threw a last disdainful scowl at the redhead he sat on Allen's bed, almost appearing to sulk.

Lavi was of course eyeing Kanda and couldn't miss the dangerous tension that radiated off the raven-haired male, not sure exactly what had spurred it up until Kanda spoke. Before that moment, he'd thought that maybe it was his joke and lack of movement on the other's command, but hearing what it was in actuality raised far more questions in his mind.

He stood as the other two entered, not wanting to be in their way, but was curious as to who they were. Certainly no one that Lavi had seen, but if he were to guess, he would probably have to say the aforementioned 'doctors'. Hearing them talk of 'patients' only confirmed his suspicions. He recognized the accents as probably being Chinese, probably from one of either the central or eastern provinces.

"Well you never really told me which was which," he pointed out towards Kanda innocently, nodding acknowledgment to what the grey-haired man said and moving to the doorway so he wouldn't be in the way of their work, though he was reluctant to go much further. "Kinda hard to avoid using it when you never said which one that is, an' I'm not a mind-reader. So is it 'Kanda' I'm not supposed to use?" He only paused for a second, trying to gauge a reaction, but wasn't immediately rewarded with one, so process of elimination told him that it was probably the other. "Or is it 'Yuu' you don't want me sayin'?"

Just as the name left Lavi's mouth, Kanda's face twisted even more - if it was even physically possible.

Allen was, however, quick enough to stop Kanda from making a move by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Can you guess, Lavi?" Allen asked with fake innocence.

"Out!" Kanda growled again, but thankfully didn't move from the spot. When Lavi closed the door, the white-haired visibly relaxed. "Try not to kill him," he said exasperatedly.

"I'll try not to kill him _slowly_ ," Kanda shot back, standing up to lean against the wall.

"Now that everyone is calmed down," Bak started, pointedly looking at the raven-haired, "we can have a proper look at you."


	21. The Diagnosis

It was a long hour for Allen to go through. He noticed that, despite his stoic facade, Kanda was nervous and the doctors' unhappy sighs were not helping his state.

Then Bak leaned backwards, rubbing his eyes. It was evident that whatever diagnose he had, it was not a positive one. Although, it was not something Allen didn't know already.

"Stop making that damn face and tell me what's wrong," Kanda exploded, hitting the wall with his fist. Allen only sighed as he put on his shirt to cover his bruised body.

"I'm sorry. I don't have good news," Bak began slowly, straightening his back and taking a deep breath. "Your condition is much worse than before. When I last checked you up in Italy, it was bad, but not _this_ kind of bad. Kanda told me what you did, and, honestly, he has every right to be pissed off. You need to be very careful what you do from now on. I'd advise you not to engage in any fights, but I know that is not going to happen, so I'm just going to have to tell you to be extremely careful. The internal bleeding is going to be a problem, though. It appears that your muscles were damaged pretty badly." He gestured to the bruises on Allen's chest. "I cannot say how bad it really is unless I could open you up, and I definitely don't want to do that," he sighed again.

"You are saying things we already know," Kanda growled. "Get to the point!"

Bak gave him an unhappy stare. He was visibly hesitating with his answer.

"Bak," Allen spoke quietly, "just tell him." He knew already. He felt it - how he messed up, this time for real. Kanda gave him a heated stare.

"The Apple might have torn him up inside beyond repair and we don't have enough medical knowledge about how to patch him up."

"So he's dying. Is that what you want to say?" Kanda asked with dead calmness. Allen didn't miss the barely audible hint of despair in his voice. A heavy silence filled the air. "I brought you here to heal him! Not to tell me that you can't do fucking anything for him!"

"Kanda, calm down," Allen piped in.

"I will not calm down!" he yelled angrily. "How long?"

Bak sighed in resignation. "I have no idea. It might be a year, five, ten maybe? It might be a month. I have warned you not to use that device after what happened the first time. I am sorry, but I can't help you anymore. Some of the wounds are going to heal over time, but they are still going to give you a hard time. You bruise abnormally quickly, which is not a good sign. Try not to move around that much for at least a few weeks - you need to give your body enough time to heal on its own." Bak stood up, packing his things. "I will bring some salves and meds tomorrow. I'm sorry, Walker," he said one last time, turning to Kanda and nodding.

The doctors left in silence, leaving the two men alone in tension.

Kanda moved to the bed and sat down, looking more tired than ever. "You knew."

"Of course I knew," Allen replied, still not meeting his eyes. He carefully touched his abdomen. "I heard something snap," he said, "and I still feel like something is not in the right place."

The black-haired leaned forward, cupping Allen's face and pressing his forehead against his own. "What have you done?"

"I'm sorry." Allen whispered. "But I'm not giving up that easily."

"You better not!" Kanda warned. "I wouldn't forgive you, idiot. I take back our initial deal." Kanda said as a matter-of-fact, stealing a kiss from the other male in haste. Allen slapped his shoulder in protest, but he didn't really pull away. He let himself be lowered onto the bed, enjoying the warmth and attention Kanda provided. He involuntarily let out a sweet moan.

When the black-haired man pulled away to place another kiss on his cheek, Allen was finally free to ask. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Kanda started, moving to Allen's neck for gentle nips that made the other giggle. "You are not leaving the bed for at least three weeks."

"WHAT?!" So much for the short, romantic atmosphere.

"You heard me," Kanda said, not bothered by the other male's struggles. "You need to rest," he said with a final tone, sitting up and slowly buttoning up Allen's shirt.

"You dirty asshole! You can't make me stay here!"

Kanda smirked. "Watch me, beansprout."

"Fuck you!"

"Not until you're healed."

"Kanda!"

"Struggle all you want. You move from that bed, I'm going to do what I promised."

* * *

Lavi smirked as he left the room. Maybe Kanda thought he was deterring the redhead from calling him Yuu with his threatening demeanor, but he really only sealed his fate to the opposite outcome. Childish it may be, but he was going to have a lot of fun irritating the man with that one little word.

He still didn't want to go far, and his urge to know what was going on despite that Kanda tried to shut him out of it was strong. He idly pressed his ear to the door, but that wasn't really sufficient, even for his trained hearing, so he left only long enough to get a glass and silently press it there. For a long while, he didn't get much worth listening in on, but he was persistent. He really didn't like being left out of things, but just because Kanda _thought_ he was effectively keeping the redhead out of the loop, didn't mean he was.

That wasn't to say Lavi wasn't somewhat glad for it in the end. He'd had a bad feeling about Allen's condition from the start, and couldn't help but frown as he overheard what was being said.

He had been worried about that... about how much damage had been done, despite Allen's insistence.

 _Maybe ten years, maybe a month._ That revelation pierced him harder than he would have liked, but he kept his reaction tempered, not letting it show very outwardly. For his life to have been shortened _that_ much...

That reckless fool.

He guessed from the words being exchanged that the examination was over and quickly moved to sit a good three feet from the door against the wall, setting the empty glass innocently at his side as if it had merely been there for drinking, watching the two doctors emerge and pretending not to know anything of what had transpired, at least for the moment.

He thought about getting up and going in, but wasn't sure if he'd even be welcomed. Kanda had already been in a bad mood before hearing what Bak and the other man had to say, so he was probably in an even worse mood now. He figured maybe it would be best to just wait where he was until either one or the other man still occupying the room deemed it safe again for him to enter... which could possibly be a long wait.

He huffed silently and propped his chin on palm, watching the doorway for further signs of life or listening for an indication that he was wanted back inside, deciding he'd just have to be patient on this one and play it by ear for now.

Lavi heard the argument beginning to ensue and couldn't help but smirk. Allen wasn't a person that liked to be told what to do. If anyone else other than Kanda knew that quite well, he did.

He wasn't really sure it was still 'safe' for him to enter, but he stood and stopped just outside view of the doorframe, rapping his knuckles against the wall his back was leaned against like he was knocking.

"I still exist, y'know, in case either of you forgot about me," he teased cheerfully, simultaneously wondering as he did so if he was just going to get told off, probably by Kanda, which seemed a likely possibility.

Kanda stopped in the middle of buttoning of Allen's shirt and stared ahead.

"Oh, Lavi!" Allen chirped with a sweet smile, grabbing Kanda's hand that shot toward his sword. "Sorry, we forgot!" he laughed, still trying to restrain the other man's movement. "I think you should-"

"Rabbit!" The black-haired man spoke slowly, prying Allen's hand off and standing up. "Let's make some things clear: I don't like you, I don't trust you, and if you call me by my first name one more time, I'm going to cut you into pieces and feed you to dogs!"

Lavi held up his hands in a placating manner as he rounded the corner into view, but didn't look the least bit intimidated. Probably because he wasn't, smiling both sheepishly and shamelessly.

"Oh~, sca~ry! If you dislike me then why do ya call me by a nickname?" Lavi pointed out, recalling what Teidol said. "As I heard it, you reserve that for people you don't really hate all that much. And I don't see why it's such a big deal." He tilted his head innocently. " 'seems like a fine enough name to me, and if you get to call me 'rabbit' all the time, then I see no reason not to call ya 'Yuu'."

He smiled a very you-shouldn't-have-told-me-that sort of smile, giving off the overly relaxed impression of someone with a very poor sense of self-preservation, all the while fully ready to dodge or flee any attempts on his life on Kanda's part. Kanda wasn't the first person to call him by that nickname, and he'd earned it for a reason. Rabbits were always ready to flee to safety on the drop of a pin, after all.

"KANDA!" Allen yelled when the other man drew his sword and charged the redhead.

"Come here you little shit!"

"Could you two calm down?!" Really, like little children!

"I am calm!" Lavi laughed as he nimbly leapt out of the path of Kanda's sword. Okay so maybe not _calm_ \- as he was laughing pretty hard - but he wasn't hostile.

"Lavi, you're making it worse!" At least he was agile enough to dodge Kanda's attacks. But then again, Kanda didn't look like he was really trying. Allen resolved to blackmailing.

He yelled something in that same unknown language Lavi had heard some of the assassin's and Teidol speak before, making the raven-haired man freeze. Allen confidently crossed his arms across his chest and cocked an eyebrow at him.

"You wouldn't," Kanda growled, his voice sounding very uncomfortable.

Allen shook his head. "Remember? I'm not _in the shape._ " Kanda cursed under his breath. Allen smirked. "Three weeks."

"I waited several years. I can wait three more weeks." Kanda shot back.

"No touching either." Allen answered confidently.

Kanda spun around to glare at Lavi and sheated his sword. "It seems like it's your lucky day."

"Most of my days are lucky," Lavi chimed, unaffected, and still playing the part of innocent. He decided not to try antagonizing the man - at least not _deliberately_ \- anymore for now, and turned his gaze towards Allen.

"Anyway, how ya feeling, 'sprout? Hopefully no worse than before I was so rudely booted outside." The wording made it sound like an accusation but it was more of a tease, implied by tone, his gaze momentarily sliding to Kanda playfully then back to his white-haired friend.

"I'm alright."

Lavi smiled mirthlessly. Oh, how that one phrase was starting to make his list of least favorites. He felt like he'd been hearing it far too much lately. It also earned a scowl from Kanda.

"-but I really feel tired now. I think I should take a nap. You two try to play nice!" Allen frowned back at the black-haired man, pulling his blanket higher. "Now off with you, shoo!"

"If you say so, 'sprout." He turned on his heel and sauntered from the room, casting a quick glance over his shoulder. "Anyway, seems like our presences are no longer wanted, eh, Yuu?" He really did enjoy watching the man's brow tick in irritation every time he said that name _far_ too much. Of course his having taken the first leave was no accident. It was always wise to get a head start on those of short tempers when one struck their nerves.

Kanda closed the door in much less rage than Lavi would've expected. Another surprise came when the other man stared at the door as if it was a permanent barrier between him and Allen, and he could do nothing to tear it down.

Interesting.

With a resigned sight, Kanda sheathed his sword and walked downstairs - as if Lavi didn't even exist at the moment. Either Kanda was doing a damn fine job of trying to ignore him, maybe having figured that Lavi was the type of person to bait reactions and was refusing to humor him with one, or - as the redhead had a sneaking suspicion - it was something else.

In either case, there was an easy way to test for that. If nothing else, he was sure the response would be worth the effort.

"Aw, so the ticking time bomb has a soft side under all that outer casing and exploding gunpowder after all~"

Kanda collapsed on the cushions in the same spot where Lavi and Tiedoll have been a day ago. He lit the hookah up and took a drag, looking rather unhappy.

Lavi chuckled. How could such a person go from being so trigger-sensitive one moment then such depressive disregard the next, anyway?

Taking a seat, in what he considered probably a safe enough distance, he made himself comfortable and watched Kanda curiously, figuring this was finally his chance to find out something about the guy that both Allen and everyone else spoke so highly of.

"Funny how a person's reassurances really only cause more grief for everyone around them, huh?" he mused aloud, merely trying to break the ice at this point and coax Kanda into conversation, and of course wording it so as not to sound as though he was coming across as trying to comfort, merely acknowledge the problem. Somehow Kanda didn't come across as the type who liked being consoled.

Kanda only stared at him for a while, sizing his body up and down while smoking. With yet another sigh of resignation, he spoke.

"You were eavesdropping." He wiggled in his seat, looking for a more comfortable position to question the redhead. "What are you even doing here? I've heard about you bookmen. You don't associate yourself with anyone. Only observing, never interfering." He hummed suspiciously, squinting. "I thought you were supposed to observe the history, not _people_. So what exactly are you to him?"

Lavi whistled fake impressment.

"So you've heard of us after all. When you didn't say anything before, I began to wonder." He propped his chin on palm, smiling casual aloofness, answering somewhat cryptically. "In a way, you've answered your own question. We chase and record history, and both history and humans are intertwined, since it's people who create the events we jot down. And to say we don't _associate_ with anyone is a rather subjective way of putting it. We associate just fine, as much as our job demands, but there's a difference between that and taking sides. You understand the difference?"

A cold smile appeared on Kanda's face, one that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Why then have you stayed at the den and trailed him like a little lost brat? Why have I found you fighting with him when that bastard showed up?" A pause. "Why does the fact that he's dying bother you so much?" Before Lavi could say something more, Kanda jumped in again. "Your mouth and face can lie, but your eyes don't." His voice dropped into an angry growl. "Who is Allen to _you_? And cut those lies. It gives me a headache."

Lavi only continued to wear the same smile, not wavering. What a perceptive man. Kanda had sharp instincts and observational skills, Lavi would definitely reward him that acknowledgment, albeit only privately. The only other person he knew that could have detected that was his own mentor, when he wasn't masking it perfectly.

He hadn't thought such care to guard his expressions well enough to even fool a fellow bookman would be needed around Kanda, but apparently he was wrong in that regard.

The one mistake the swordsman made in their exchange however was voicing the poker-tell, which made it that much easier for Lavi to know just how he needed to change his signals, his visible eye becoming more guarded and harder to read. It was a seamless and instant correction that he barely thought about, well-trained in moderating his body language and persona without much conscious effort. It was an art he had perfected above all other skills, because the person he needed to fool most into believing it was the old man that had raised him, and pulling the wool over old "Panda-Jiji" Bookman's eyes was a task bordering on the impossible.

"Allen is an interesting person with great skill and reputation surrounded by interesting events. Not least of all being that he carries with him a device most wouldn't even believe in were you to tell them about and those who do would start wars and tragedy to obtain, of which there are those sorts already fighting to take it. And alongside him stands another interesting person with skill and high reputation, helping him wage a quiet war amongst their own faction. A war that might not stay so quiet forever. What better place to wait for history to happen, where all that's left to add to the mix is a scribe to write it all down?"

He was fully playing upon his role and into his persona as a true bookman at this point and trying to derail the notion that any of it had to do with Allen as an individual, personal reasons falling by the wayside. As far as he was concerned, that was all Kanda needed to know, and with having found out about the involvement of the Apple in this whole affair, he could come up with a perfect justification while leaving the matter of his feelings out of the equation. Because he, a Bookman, had no justification he could offer in regard to his attachment to Allen. An attachment that was forbidden to him, and shouldn't exist, but that he couldn't seem to be rid of regardless.

He smirked, almost condescendingly.

"Methinks you're trying to read too much into something that isn't there. I'm here on business, that's all."

Kanda 'tch'ed and looked to the side, clearly in exasperation. "That is your way of telling me I'm gonna have to deal with you as well from now on? Anyway, if I could I would gladly give you that fucked up Apple. Anything to get it off his hands." He sighed, taking another drag.

Silence fell between them for a while. Kanda looked as if he wanted to say something, but his pride wouldn't let him open his mouth.

"If it makes you feel better," Lavi hummed, finally breaking the silence. "I'm a very useful person. Being a bookman comes with quite a few perks for you to benefit from, while I'm here making my record, being somewhat of a jack of all trades. My medical knowledge is pretty good, I'm not a half-bad fighter, and as a few people here might be able to tell you, a skilled tactician. Allen would also probably be able to tell you that I'm not a half-bad cook as well. Just because I don't take sides doesn't mean I can't be of some service while I'm here."

"Yes, I'm sure he'll praise you to heavens," he noted sarcastically. "But as for your helpfulness, I will decide that on my own."

Lavi straightened up, glad to have evaded Kanda's questioning enough that the subject of their relationship seemed to have dropped.

"Anyway, I've heard a lot of talk about you, so now I'm curious to know some things. You're obviously not from this part of the world, as far as I can tell. From somewhere further east, but I can't quite place where, and you speak a language I don't think I've heard before." He tilted his head slightly. "I wanted to say, that _maybe_ you might be Chinese, or at least mixed, but I know enough Mandarin to distinguish that it's probably somewhere else entirely."

As Lavi speculated about his origin, Kanda's face progressively changed into a foxlike smirk. "You're a bookman. How about you figure it out on your own." The smile vanished suddenly. "You still haven't answered my question. But whatever, as long as you keep your distance, you're going to stay alive." Kanda sized him again, the disdainful look in place. "Hopefully."

"Aw, come on Yuu, you can't even give me a hint? Contrary to popular belief-" among those who actually knew of the Bookmen's existence anyway. "-our knowledge base ain't without limits. I'm curious!" He crossed his arms on the table. "An' which question would that be? Cuz if you mean the 'sprout, I already told you how it is. Interesting events are bound to unfold around him, so long as he has that Apple. I'm interested in seeing how it all plays out, whatever the outcome."

"Call me that one more time and you're never gonna see him again!" Kanda shot back. "You're not telling the whole truth, but I don't care. One wrong move and you're dead." He stood up, palming the sword on his side.

Lavi merely smirked, the only thing Kanda's temper inspiring in him at the moment being amusement. He didn't even really have to try at this point, pissing Kanda off was just _too_ easy.

And unfortunately for the man, Lavi was also too easy to entertain, when it came to poking for reactions.

Kanda brushed by the redhead before he could protest and was immediately surrounded by a handful of men who were most probably flooding him reports in that mysterious language. He only calmly listened to them and after they seemed to finish, his only reply was a nod and a short order in return.

Lavi strained his ears to listen to all the chatter, trying to pick out pieces he might understand. It _definitely_ wasn't Chinese. It didn't sound like any of the many various Indian languages to him, either. Were truth be told, he was stumped, but that didn't mean he was going to quit trying. Maybe he could always get the information that he wanted out of someone else... one of the other, lower-rank Assassins, or maybe Teidol would indulge him. He'd come back to that later.

"You like to make a lot of threats, huh?" he mused aloud, once it seemed Kanda's attention was no longer divided between several people. " 'kinda surprising, really, that someone like you and Allen got so deep into this whole mess together." It was more an outspoken thought of idle observation than anything.

Kanda glanced backwards after his men left and scoffed.

"Certainly less surprising than you still being alive," he said coldly, wondering how long he would be able to endure the rabbit before his hand slips under his throat.

Allen was very clear about what would Kanda have to endure if something happened to the redhead - or more specifically, if _Kanda_ did something to the redhead - but he was already considering some kind of splendid, not to mention very _tragic,_ accident that could potentially befall the man.

He caught himself musing about all the misfortunate scenarios and schooled his mind back to the presence. Going by the brief look that flashed across Lavi's face, Kanda judged that it was time to leave.

After all, he still had some unwilling guards to take care of.

He marched outside, letting his mind wander again - this time thinking about how he could possibly keep the rabbit out of the den...

 


	22. High Tensions

Lavi yawned and stretched out across the floor of the library, still holding onto one of the pillows he'd snuck in with him to get comfortable. He wasn't sure how many hours it had been since he'd turned in for the night after Kanda had stormed off, but it had to be morning.

He'd thought about returning to his own private place, but wanted to be absolutely sure first that Allen was going to be okay. Besides, his own medical knowledge might come in handy, since Kanda obviously wasn't a doctor himself outside of treating basic wounds. In that way, at least, Lavi might still be useful and earn his keep.

Getting up, he cleaned himself up a bit and untangled his messy mane of red hair. He'd thought about cutting it more than once, since it was more trouble to manage, but he'd been told he looked nice with his hair that way by someone once, after he'd complained about it. For some reason, that mattered to him, and he'd just let it go.

Even so... it might be starting to get to the point of ridiculous. He could probably stand to trim a few inches, at least.

Neither Allen nor Kanda showed up downstairs, though he hadn't expected as much yet.

Some time ticked by, and still nothing, so he decided to go about making something to bring the white-haired man for breakfast-in-bed, still utilizing the same herbs as yesterday and making another Yarrow-Perennial-Foxglove tea. Medicinal properties aside, it would probably also raise the man's mood, and the more content Allen was, the more likely he would be to stay put properly and let himself heal.

Just as Lavi was making his way to the stairs, the two foreign doctors entered the hall, the shorter one tentatively looking around - most probably looking for someone he knew. They stood by the door and it looked as if they were arguing in whispers, still hesitating to come in. The blond man snapped something back at the other, making him sigh and shake his head unhappily. Noticing the redhead by the stairs, the older man stepped further with his hands clasped in front of him and bowed.

"Excuse me," he spoke in his thick accent, "we are looking for lord Kanda. Have you seen him by any chance?" The phrase seemed a little bit too trained and artificial.

Lavi blinked.

" _Lord_ Kanda?" he repeated. "That title's a little excessive, isn't it?" After a moment, he shook it off. "Anyway, no, sorry. If he's woken up yet, I haven't seen him." There was a possibility he could have slept in _really_ late himself and missed him somehow, but the redhead doubted as much. "Maybe he's visiting Allen or something already up in his room?"

The old man tilted his head slightly, visibly at loss of words. "Well... is it? I am not sure about the western titles..."

"Speaking about Allen," the blond doctor stepped in, relieving the other man of Lavi's attention. "I brought his medicine. Kanda told me that he would pick it up but since he's not here..." He trailed off with a pregnant pause, waiting for Lavi to finish the thought, maybe lead them to the patient...

"I was just about to go to Allen's room," Lavi shrugged, picking up the tray of food he'd made for Allen. "So you can always follow me and see if Kanda's there. And if not, you could always just give it straight to Allen." He turned to lead the way.

Bak nodded and followed, going back to a snappy whispered conversation in Chinese with his colleague. Lavi caught more of what they were saying than perhaps he was meant to, the two arguing over how the proper way to address Kanda would be and how formal or informal was okay. Of course, you didn't have to speak Chinese to catch Kanda's name in there, so even if he hadn't known the rest, he would have figured out who they were speaking of.

When they arrived at the door, Wong skillfully stepped in front of Lavi and Bak, offering to open the door for him with another brief bow. Lavi opened his mouth to warn Wong of knocking first, but he was distracted by Bak before the words could escape his lips.

"So, you're a close friend of Allen's?" the short doctor asked with a slightly nervous but polite smile. As if the man wasn't sure how to behave around strangers. He was about to continue but once he turned his head to look inside the room, his smile along with his whole body froze.

" _Shàngdì de ài!_ " the man screeched, turning all red. He covered his eyes and spun around. "What indecency!"

Mystery solved.

Kanda was indeed in Allen's room but the state he was in was quite surprising, even for someone who hasn't known him very long.

He and Allen were snuggled in the bed half naked, with the blanket carelessly kicked off and their limbs tangled to the point where it was hard to tell which belonged to whom. Kanda laid with his bare, muscled back facing the doorway, his hair down and flowing off the bed - the dark tips almost touching the floor, softly snoring into Allen's ear while Allen himself had his injured arm slacked over Kanda's hip, hand resting on the man's ass.

The white-haired assassin's head shot up at Bak's scream, his eyes still fogged by the sleep. He really did look funny, in a cute, childish kind of way with his cheek red and creased from the sleep. He groaned in annoyance and rested his forehead on Kanda's shoulder for a moment, then sliding off to lie down again and press his face against Kanda's chest.

Allen slowly dragged his palm over Kanda's sides and drummed his fingers to wake the man up.

Of course, as soon as he awoke, the temperature in the room significantly dropped. He slowly turned onto his back and glared at the violators by the door from under his black bangs.

Lavi had been half-expecting Kanda to immediately come charging out. It took a little while longer than he expected for the man to rouse and start snapping, but he had known it would start raining down as soon as the raven-haired man was awake.

"What's the meaning of this?!"

Lavi smirked and squeezed by Wong and Bak with the tray of food, casting them a sidelong glance.

"You were supposed to knock first," he told them gently, at the same time making it a point to announce it wasn't _his_ fault. He didn't exactly have much favor with Kanda already as it was, after all.

No point in waiting to enter now, seeing as they'd already managed to disturb both the beauty and the beast.

"Anyway! Rise and shine, 'sprout! I brought ya breakfast!" Bak and Wong could handle announcing their own business, and deal with Kanda's anger, since they had been the ones to piss him off in the first place this time.

Allen groaned on the bed again, announcing his unwillingness to get up. He buried his head into the pillow, visibly unhappy with the lack of Kanda's warm chest and curled himself into a ball.

Kanda meanwhile sat up and dragged a hand across his face to get rid of the last traces of sleep. He grabbed the blanket with his other one and threw it on Allen, murmuring something that was most probably "don't catch a cold" or something in that sense.

He stood up from the bed and glared first at Lavi who strolled in with the tray - which provided another excuse for Kanda to dislike the man, then at the doctors. Or more like at Bak beause of his screechy voice and antics.

Big deal, finding two men _asleep_ in bed - it's not like the one time that Tiedoll walked in on them. That time was something the old man surely hasn't forgotten yet.

"Calm down," Kanda grumbled with a yawn, his anger still surprisingly subdued. "Go check on him and stop blushing like a little virgin."

Bak spluttered and harrumphed, walking in and putting a parcell on the bed. He proceeded to gently prod Allen, trying to make him uncurl so he could check on his wounds.

Kanda watched him for a brief while but then yawned again, this time more grouchily as if he remembered to be pissed off and grabbing his shirt from the floor, putting it on. With an elegant sweep of his hand, he combed through his long hair, gathering it and twisting it into a messy bun on the base of his neck.

"I don't remember inviting you in," he snapped at Lavi, eyeing the tray with evident hatred.

"I don't remember asking permission," Lavi returned automatically, not really caring that Kanda wanted to have an attitude. It wasn't as if he wasn't bound to have one anyway. He couldn't help but notice Kanda glaring at the tray he brought as if the man wanted to light it on fire. "And as far as I recall, it's Allen's room anyway, so pretty sure that decision is his."

Maybe he was getting a little cheeky with that statement, but he wasn't about to let Kanda deter him. Somehow he doubted the other man would have even the knowledge base, much less the forethought, toward making breakfast specifically with herbs that would help Allen recover better and faster in mind. They'd both be more thankful for it in the end, even if they didn't realize it or what he was doing.

Well... Allen might be thankful, the same way he was thankful for _all_ food. Kanda probably never would though.

"It's technically Kanda's room," Allen commented, earning himself a scolding from Bak, who was trying to listen to his breathing. "I just moved in."

"Details, details," Lavi waved off. Which was his way of disregarding Kanda's sense of victory when Allen chimed in about it.

Kanda's face lit up - if one could call it that - with a mean, victorious suck-it-up smile. "Watch your tongue, rabbit, you might lose it otherwise."

"I'd like to see you try. Us rabbits bite." He smirked at that, almost tempted to throw some lewd joke in about that, but thought better of it. Kanda already had the wrong idea. Best not to give him any more incentive to believe it. "Anyway, the 'sprouts gotta eat, if he wants to keep up his strength and get better!" he smiled at Allen cheerily, suddenly seeming to forget Kanda entirely. "I made that same tea from yesterday, but the food's a bit different." Still, he had made something specifically with garlic, chives, and hyssop. Being so well-traveled also gave him a rather broad knowledge base of different kinds of foods he could make, without running out of ideas for something new to keep Allen's tastes satisfied. "It's got tons of fresh garlic on it again though! Hopefully you're not tired of that already. I know you said you liked that part especially."

"Be quiet, all of you!" Bak interrupted. "I'm trying to work." That only reduced the two men to a glaring competition.

Kanda hated to admit it, but the redhead was right. Allen needed sustenance, and he needed a lot of it, and by the looks and smell of it, it seemed like a proper food for him to eat. The tea, too.

Of course, he would never say it out loud. Instead of that, he scoffed again and spun around, watching Bak's interaction with Allen.

"Thank you," Bak shot back, shaking his head. "Oh, and by the way, how is _your_ injury, Kanda?"

The man idly scratched his tattooed left pectoral. "Long since healed. Not even a scar left."

Bak cocked a brow at him, his eye flickering between Kanda's eyes and his left breast. Wong stepped forward, fully intending to inspect the healed wound until Kanda shooed him away in annoyance, snapping something in _that_ language again.

"Kanda-dono!" Whatever it was he said, it sure as hell seemed to upset the old man.

"Be nice," Allen placated him. "And thank you, Lavi!" He chirped, visibly perking up at the idea of breakfast. He dug in as soon as the tray was within reach, nodding to Bak who recited dos and don'ts concerning the medicine.

Lavi wasn't really paying a lot of attention to Kanda, more focused on Allen as Wong fussed over the other man, but he caught at least a good portion of it anyway. He smiled again as Allen took the food from him happily.

"You're welcome," he returned.

"And get dressed, for heaven's sake! So indecent," Bak complained suddenly, standing up and shaking his finger at Kanda who stared him in boredom, purposely not making any move to comply. "Seriously, the youth today..." the doctor grumbled.

"You're not much older than I am." Kanda commented dully.

"But much better-mannered!"

"Better mannered, most definitely," Lavi agreed idly, smirking. "But you can't compete with all that earlier image of adorably cuddly-huggy action," Lavi teased, wrapping his arms around himself and rotating back and forth to add to the taunt, entirely shameless. "Like a bundle o' fluffy kittens purring away in a cat-nap!"

Kanda wasn't exactly someone he would refer to as 'cute' or 'cuddly' in any seriousness - physically good-looking, maybe, but definitely not comparable to a kitten - but unluckily for Kanda and luckily for anyone who had a sense of humor and wasn't terribly worried about self-preservation, the reaction was bound to be pure gold.

Because he was sure Kanda didn't consider himself, nor _wanted_ to be referred to, as "cute and cuddly like a kitten", either.

Kanda's growl echoed in the room and Lavi could have sworn he saw the man blush - of all things to do... blush?

Even as he grabbed his sword and coat, angrily marching outside and murmuring murder under his nose, he still couldn't hide the red coloring his cheeks.

And Lavi was not the only one to notice.

Bak stared at the doorway where Kanda's back disappeared and blinked several times. Allen sighed unhappily on the bed, staring in that direction, too.

"Good job, Lavi," the assassin piped in. "Not only have I just lost my bed-warmer, but you even managed to give him an even better reason to hate you and murder you at the next possible occasion. I am not going to stop him then." he warned, giving Lavi a very disapointed stare.

Lavi couldn't help but laugh, shrugging dismissively at Allen's warning.

"Aw, I'm sorry I made you lose your bed-warmer, unless o' course, you're taking replacements," this of course being a joke more than a serious offer. "And at least if I die, it'll be a smile on my face! Lavi Bookman: 2, Yuu Kanda: 0." He made it a point to advertise the score loud enough that hopefully Kanda would hear it, even from outside the room. It all really depended on how far he'd gone and how quickly.

The comment about the substitute heater made Bak bulge his eyes at him in outrage, and when he yelled the score, a faint _"fuck you"_ echoed from the stairs.

If Kanda's reaction to his teasing and banter hadn't been comedy gold, then Bak's reaction to his joke about playing space-heater was certainly worth it.

Lavi's only answer to Kanda's shouted profanity was more laughter, before turning his attention back to the immediate occupants of the room. It wasn't as if there was much more entertainment to be reaped off of someone who was making it a point not to be present anymore anyway.

My, how absolutely easy it was to get people to pull great reactions. Could they make it any easier?

All Allen could do was stuff his mouth full of food and watch Lavi with the slightly disappointed stare. He still thought that the man lacked a proper sense of self-preservation and evidently didn't know Kanda good enough to tell when he's stepping over the line. Allen seriously considered stepping aside next time the two clash - on one side curious, on the other to see how long Lavi would last.

"Interesting reaction," Bak mused, still staring at the doorway. "I certainly didn't expect him to get all shy."

Allen shrugged again. "Miracles do happen." And a miracle is going to happen if Lavi stays in tact for the next week.

"Makes me kinda jealous," the doctor whispered wistfully, a dreamy look on his face. Bak's comment was one Lavi didn't expect and he couldn't help but tilt his head at the man curiously, still shamelessly wearing a shit-eating grin.

"Oh? How so?" Seemed an odd thing to be jealous of, if he was on the same page as Bak was. But maybe they were thinking of different things.

Bak huffed and his shoulder sagged. "Nah, it's nothing really. Only a man standing in the way of my love," he announced dramatically.

Allen choked suddenly and quickly drank the tea to clean his throat. "Eh?"

It made the doctor the doctor chuckle. "It has been a long time since I heard about her last. A shame really."

"I didn't know you had a love interest."

"Don't be silly, Allen. Everyone's got a love interest somewhere! Well... _most_ everyone anyway." Lavi glanced at Bak with a smile, only really mildly curious and playing into being social. "So, what? Girl you like already has a boyfriend or something?"

"More like an over-protective homicidal brother who threatens anyone who gets close to her. Poor girl will end up all alone like this." Another wistful sigh. "Not that I'm ever going to give up! Not as long as my name is Bak Chan!"

"My, my, you're really the fighter, Bak," Allen commented with a smile. How sweet was that - seeing Bak get all motivated and passionate over a woman.

Lavi was watching Bak more intently than was probably strictly necessary as the Chinese man talked about the person of his desires, focusing hard on something.

"I _knew_ your name sounded familiar from somewhere!" he burst out suddenly, his face lighting up with green eye going wide, snapping a finger in realization. "You're the head of the prestigious Chan family in far Eastern China!"

He abruptly covered his mouth with one palm, snorting barely suppressed laughter... which didn't stay suppressed for long, the redhead buckling over and guffawing borderline hysterically.

"I've heard of you! You're-! You're that guy! The one that-" he had to pause as laughter took over too much to continue, leaning on the wall for support with tears forming in his eye and face turning red. "You... you're that..." he paused and made air quotations with his fingers. "...that `stalker` that he won't let anywhere near Lenalee!"

He burst back into uncontrollable, breathless giggles, clutching his sides and sliding down the wall to rest his head on his knees as he tried to control himself.

Bak stared and stared and stared, and Allen mentally wondered just what was going on. Then suddenly the man's face broke out in hives, sending Wong into fits of panic.

"Wh-wh-what are you talking about? What stalker? Me? How-how do you...?" Bak stuttered in embarrassment, much to Allen's amusement. "A stalker! She's going to think I'm a stalker!"

"Oh my, now you broke Bak too?" Allen piped in. "You're on fire today, Lavi."

"W-what can I say?" Lavi laughed, still having trouble reigning his composure back in. "I have _talent_!" His sides were aching and he'd laughed so hard he made himself start coughing somewhat. "Oh god, help, I think I'm dying," he wheezed, a few stray giggles still bubbling up.

And the redhead still wearing a shamelessly wide smile. He wiped tears out of his eye with a gloved palm, still huffing humorously.

"Good, you can spare Kanda the dirty work," Allen shot back, drinking his tea. "Hm?"

"I cannot! I cannot live like this!"

"Bak-sama, please!" Wong fanned his face while the doctor recited his soliloquy.

Allen sighed yet again, sipping the tea. Kanda was off god knows where, Lavi was losing it, and Bak broke out in some mysterious shy-hives. "I'm surrounded by idiots," he quietly murmured. "Unbelievable. Shame on all of you."

He wondered silently, how this day could get any worse. Of course, the day was far from over.

"No," Lavi stated suddenly, sobering, in a tone as if he'd just made some important, final declaration in an argument that could not and _would_ not be challenged, looking completely straight-face serious at Allen. "No, no, no. Unless you've personally _met_ him, you don't understand! You think _Yuu_ is being paranoid about me? You haven't seen real paranoia. This is _Komui Lee_. There are Russian grizzly bear mothers less protective of their cubs than this man is of his sister."

He waved his finger pointedly at Allen, as if scolding a small child that didn't know the full implications of some sort of mistake they'd made.

"You so much as _breathe_ the wrong way toward or close enough around her, and you will wake up the next morning, _castrated_ , having no recollection of having actually gone to sleep the night before. Now imagine trying to so much as put a hand on her in _any_ manner he deems questionable, or wanting to hook up with her. He may very well kill you. Ignoring mercy. _Entirely_. And assuming anything happened to him, _guaranteed_ , he'd find a way to come back from the grave, and haunt away every suitor in existence. Never, and I mean, _never_ underestimate this man, in regards to exactly how far he will go to deter anyone from potentially posing anything he deems a threat to her. I _promise_ you, this guy could give Yuu chills if he thought the guy might be getting funny ideas around her."

Allen hummed in thought, putting a finger to his lips, playing the unaffected child.

"I think Kanda might know him." He looked at Bak. "He was raised by your family, right?"

Bak stopped his ignored soliloquy and stared at the white-haired man. "Oh yeah, I think they might have met at some point."

"Anyway," Allen continued, looking at Lavi again and smiling sweetly. "I think I wouldn't have any problem with him at all."

"That's because you're a cheat," Lavi teased Allen, before glancing at Bak curiously, the bit about Kanda being raised by the Chan's piquing his interest. "Anyway, speaking of which, where is Yuu from, exactly? And that language he speaks? I tried asking him, but as you can probably guess, he wasn't exactly in a divulging mood." And now seemed the perfect time to ask.

It had seemed like an innocent enough question, but apparently Lavi was wrong on that matter. He could almost _feel_ the tension that it suddenly brought, and not just from one person, but both Bak and Allen.

"Oh, Kanda? Uhm..." Bak looked incredibly uncomfortable with the change of topic. "He is from _Nihon_. Um, that is... Japan. But my family took him in when he was a child, so I guess he's more from China than Japan," Bak clarified. He looked as if he wanted to continue, but the sudden and very surprising stare Allen turned on him made him shut up.

"And I think you've said enough," the assassin commented, putting down his already empty cup of tea. "Thank you for the breakfast, Lavi." He smiled sweetly, discreetly hinting that the conversation concerning Kanda is over.

Lavi couldn't help but glance between them uncertainly, acute curiosity nagging at him, but he knew better than to press with the looks Allen was giving and tone. Whatever nerve he'd hit, it was something touchy, and as prying as he was, personal backstories weren't something he delved too deeply into unless it was important enough to know for his job's sake, or unless he was invited to hear.

" _Nihon_ ," he hummed, letting the name roll off the tongue. It wasn't as if the topic of the actual place was off-limits, as far as he could tell. Just the topic of Kanda himself. "This may come as a surprise, but I don't think I've heard of it. Where is this place, exactly?"

"East of China. We call it the Land of Rising Sun. A very beautiful country, but has quite strict rules and rulers. A few wars raging there at the moment, I think. Has been a while since I've been there last myself," Bak said, now completely calmed down and slightly more comfortable with where the topic has turned. Allen, too, seemed a little calmer than before, even though he was yawning already.

"Huh. I've never been far enough east, I guess. 'didn't know there was a country further out beyond China. Must not be very big," he mused, noticing how drastically the atmosphere changed. He'd have to remember that from now on. Inquiring about Kanda's origins was a big no-no.

He couldn't help but wonder why, but he knew well just how horrible of a place the world could be towards people. Pasts filled with things better left buried were far from uncommon. Whatever it was, maybe it offered some explanation as to why the man seemed like such a volatile, bitter person.

But it really wasn't his business, any more than his own past was the business of anyone besides himself and his mentor. Even Allen wasn't privy to his personal history, outside of the time they spent together and the few stories he told of exciting misadventures that there was no harm in talking about.

"It is a considerably small country, actually. Very easy to miss." Bak stood up and dusted himself off. Now that he was calmed and hive-less, and Wong over his panic attack, they judged it was time to leave."We would love to stay longer, but I'm afraid I have more patients to attend to."

"Alright, Lavi nodded. "Well at any rate, it was good talking to you." He smiled and watched them go, before moving to sit closer to the bed, resting his head against the edge of it. " 'guess that just leaves us until Yuu pulls the tail from between his legs and comes back," he joked, snickering faintly. And to think, all it had taken was comparing him to a cuddly kitten!

That earned him a hit on the head. Lavi yelped and ducked, holding it. It had been a while since anyone decked him like that - not since he last saw Bookman, actually.

"Seriously now, you're unbelievable!" Allen scolded grouchily with a pouty lip. "I know you like to tease and prank people, but you are taking it too far with Kanda. Do you have a death wish or something? Because Kanda can easily take care of that." He moved further up on the bed so he could lean his back aganst the wall and crossed his arms on his chest. "He is not one to give a warning before he draws his sword - keep that in mind. And one more thing!" Allen frowned then but he looked more like a sulky boy than a frowning man. "Learn to knock before you enter!"

"Hey, it's not like it's anything personal!" he protested, pouting at Allen childishly. "Just cuz you like him doesn't mean he gets any special treatment from me, any more than you or the old Panda does. It ain't my fault he doesn't have a sense of humor!" He huffed audibly and shifted to sit more comfortably, folding his arm under his head against the edge of the bed like a cushion. "And anyway, I already know to knock. It was Bak and that other guy that barged in without doing so. I had nothin' to do with that."

Allen stuck out his tongue.

"If you lose a limb, don't come to me crying. He killed men for lesser things, so heads up. Anyway, do you have anything interesting to read for me?" _Until Kanda returns,_ but he didn't say that out loud. "I get bored in the evenings."

Lavi perked at the unexpected request, smiling broadly. Scaring away Kanda for a little while with his teasing came with _some_ extra benefits, at least.

"Yeah, sure, I can read you something. Anything specific you want me to find? Y'know like, folk tales or mythology or epic adventure? Or maybe..." he struck a Shakespearian dramatic, swooning pose, putting on a comedic deep voice in hopes of earning a laugh with his antics. "Daring tales of melodrama and romance!"

Allen tried very hard to keep his sour face, but he couldn't help but laugh at Lavi's antics. He regretted it a second later as he started to cough, which made his whole body jerk in spikes of pain. Even though he held up a hand, gesturing to Lavi that he was alright.

"I'm fine, no worries." He laughed, but it was visible that it took some effort to put up a smile onto his face. "I think I would like to hear some legends this time. Got anything interesting?"

"I think I can find something," Lavi hummed, trying not to look too concerned over Allen. Mainly because he was sure it would only end in annoyance on both their parts. He figured that keeping their minds occupied with entertainment would be far better medicine than disbelief and doting, when it came to his friend and the circumstances, at least.

He nodded and stood, going to find something, and wasn't long in returning.

"As it just so happens," he announced his return flamboyantly, toting along a book with an err of triumph. "I have just the thing! _The Golden Legend_ by Jacobus de Voragine." He held the book up for display. "Quite a popular read, if I recall correctly. Saints, dragons... exciting stuff like that." He smirked as he flipped it open, poised and ready to go on a dramatic tirade of overzealous reading. "And I will _try_ not to kill you with laughter, but I make no such definitive promises. I have _talent_ , after all." He offered up a playful wink.

Lavi read the text in more the manner of a farce than the seriousness it was originally meant to be taken in, acting things out at times and others letting his voice do all of the portrayal with pouring as much gusto into it as he thought necessary and perhaps then-some. Allen tried not to laugh too much after Lavi started reading the tales, but it proved harder and harder with every chapter since Lavi put extra effort into intonation and impressions. He wasn't a religious person, so maybe his perspective made the legends seem more like bedtime stories than what it was supposed to be. By the third story he had to ask Lavi for a break during which he tried to catch his breath both from laughing and the pain he felt.

Not that he really minded. It made him forget his troubles even if it was only temporal. He almost forgot how he loved listening to Lavi's reading and it made him feel nostalgic. It steered his thoughts back to the times when he was younger and much more carefree.

A few times Lavi had to pause himself, the laughter becoming contagious, before he could continue. Allen's laughing was like music to his ears, and he deeply enjoyed that Allen was having so much fun watching his performance. At some point he had slightly more of an audience than just Allen from a couple of stray passersby going about other business.

God how he'd missed this.

Another story was read, and another one. The following was much calmer than the previous ones and soon enough, Allen was too exhausted from laughing and was lost in the dreamland, leaving Lavi silently murmuring words that were not really written in the text.

Lavi read for a bit longer, not really even paying attention to if he was reading the text right at this point. After he was _absolutely certain_ Allen was sound asleep, he finally stopped, quietly closing the book.

Kanda still wasn't back, so he didn't see a need to make himself scarce quite yet, instead taking a seat near the bed and leaning his head against the edge, simply listening to Allen's soft and somewhat labored breathing, up until the point he nodded off himself.

* * *

Kanda was making his way back to the den after a day filled with listening to the news and rumors about the city his men gathered over the time, disposing of potential threats that could interfere with the current state of peace that was established between the Byzantines and the assassins, and checking on the other dens' supplies and possible missions that could earn them a little bit of money.

He couldn't say that he was entirely pleased to learn that the idea of peace was the one-eyed rabbit's idea, but he had to admit that it saved him a lot of work and complications.

Everything seemed to be in order.

Well... _almost_ everything.

For some mysterious reason - whether it was because his men have become lazy and inefficient, or because or something else - they still couldn't get a hold of the bastard wannabe priest from Italy that was after the Apple.

Kanda felt like killing someone after he learned that their target vanished from the city's surface. But he made sure the assassins know what would happen to them if they won't remedy this little flaw as soon as possible.

Looks like Kanda will have to remind his men that the holiday is over.

He arrived to the den at night, exhausted and a little agitated but not too badly. Tiedoll was, of course, already downstairs, pattering about how he should rest more and do this and not do that and _yadda yadda yadda_ , which made Kanda take a sharp ninety-degree turn to the right just as he entered the hallway and go upstairs. The only thing that made him feel a little bit better was the fact that he didn't find the bookman anywhere downstairs.

His moment of satisfaction at the lack of annoying rabbits was, however, short lived, since he found the redhead fast asleep on the floor next to his bed where Allen slept.

The nerve...

He drew his sword with dooming slowness, pressing the tip against the intruders neck and hissing "Out!" through his clenched teeth. He knew the bookman was already awake. It was his pretending to be asleep that offended him most.

"Do you threaten all your house guests?" Lavi muttered, cracking his eye open faintly and swatting the tip of the sword aside nonchalantly, as if he wasn't worried at all about Kanda's threat. "Or am I just that special?"

He had heard the man return - it was sort of hard to miss - and the other men downstairs talking to him, but hadn't bothered paying it much mind. He happened to like where he was half-laying comfortably, and more importantly, where he could keep tabs on Allen and make sure he didn't relapse, since Bak had left hours ago. Not to mention Kanda had taken his sweet time in even checking in. Honestly, he was going to leave so long that Allen could've had a sudden decline or complication in his shaky health, and then get pissed that someone else was keeping an eye on the guy? Gratitude obviously wasn't a concept he was familiar with.

He yawned widely and straightened up, stretching his arms skyward until his back popped softly, rubbing the tiredness out of his eye.

"You could really take some lessons on manners from Allen, like politely asking people to leave instead of brandishing a sword at every chance you can find an excuse for."

"Shut your mouth and get out!" Kanda whispered harshly, but not really paying attention to him. He frowned at Allen instead, sheathing his sword and shoving Lavi away so he had the access to the bed. "That's weird," he mumbled, pressing the back of his fingers against Allen's cheek. It wasn't usual for him to sleep through something like this. He was usually up by the time someone opened the door, but now...

His temperature was normal, so Kanda guessed he was only tired.

"You're still here?!" He growled as he turned around to face the other man. "Out!" he ordered again, brushing past Lavi. "Tiedoll wanted to speak to you." Did he? Kanda heard him mention his name when he came so he guessed he did. At least he had a good excuse to make him leave the room.

Lavi only held up his hands in defeat, shrugging.

"Fine, 'not like I have all that much reason to hang around anyway." As if anyone would want to when the man was being so sour.

Really though, how had someone like him and Allen ended up together? Sure, he had some redeeming qualities. He certainly wasn't short on blessings when it came to physical looks, but that wasn't enough to snare Allen's long-term attention alone. He was skilled in combat, certainly, but so were a lot of other people. And personality? Abrasive was putting it nicely, and so far he'd seen both men butt heads like rams in springtime more than get along, a glimpse of cuddle time not withstanding.

He really wasn't looking to pick up more trouble at the moment though, so he complied with Kanda's wishes easily, idly massaging his neck as he followed.

"And I'm surprised Teidol snagged you into playing messenger-boy. What did he want with me, exactly?"

Kanda stayed silent, mentally thinking about some reply but having a hard time coming up with one.

"Ask him, not me." That was not a kind of sassy reply he wanted to give, but it could have been worse. The main point was to get him _out_.

And anyway, they needed to discuss how to proceed with Apollo. If Lavi was really as good as his men and Tiedoll say then he would give him a chance to demonstrate his skills. Maybe he could lure the read-haired man out so he could see for himself how good Lavi was when push came to shove.

* * *

 _Finally_ , both that red-haired bookman and the Nightmare were out of the way. It took them long enough.

Demir had hoped to catch Allen alone while that Kanda person was running around town, entirely gone from the den, but no such luck since the bookman had staked out the bedroom and kept company. Even though it appeared as if they'd both fallen asleep for a time, he wasn't fool enough to sneak in and think his presence would go unnoticed by the redhead, so he'd been forced to wait while the guy put on a whole stage-show and then camped out for a nap, and then for the Nightmare to escort him out.

No telling how long they'd be gone, so he'd either have to sneak in now or await another day.

The window was an easy access point, and he almost had to laugh at how poorly thought their security truly was, if he could manage to do that. He made it a point to shut the door before approaching the sleeping White Demon, flicking a flower beneath his nose where the petals tickled it.

"Wakey, wakey~ my withered flower~" he hummed aloud. "It's rude to keep people waiting."

Allen stirred, only swatting the offending fragrant thing under his nose, but when he cracked one eye open and saw the person leaning above him, he sat up, almost yelping out in fright.

His hand reflexively shot up to the man's throat, only to freeze halfway because he realized he put his blades down and stashed them in his chest.

A low, pained groan escaped his throat afterwards and he wrapped his arms around his abdomen. Not a good move.

He glared at Demir from under his bangs, gritting his teeth.

"How the hell did you get in?!" _And how the hell didn't I hear you coming?_ Allen realized he was in much more trouble than he would have liked. His body still refused to cooperate and he had no weapon on him. He only had the Apple of Eden hidden in the corner under his pillow, and he wasn't very keen on using it anytime soon.

Demir chuckled and straightened up, nodding towards the window. "Your security in the front is tight, but there's always a back door if you know how to find it." Amusement played across his face, though he made no moves toward the other, instead only twirling the flower back and forth between his index and thumb idly. "As you may well be aware, our last meeting was more brief than I had wanted, since your leak had you tailed to our meeting place, so I never received the payment you promised. Naturally, I've come to collect." His voice turned somewhat husky, though more as a taunt than anything. "You promised me a demonstration, after all, my little flower~"

The tone made Allen shiver, and just as he was about to answer, the door flew open - almost falling off their hinges - revealing a very livid looking Kanda, with his sword drawn and prepared to kill.

A nightmare indeed.

"You have five seconds to move away from that bed, explain yourself, and say your last words." His whole body was dead calm but he could feel his heart pump the blood though his veins quicker than was usual. It was a mistake to leave Allen alone in the room.

Kanda glanced out of the window briefly.

His men have grown lazy. They have allowed someone to slip into the den - _now_ , of all the times, when the sprout was unable to fight.

"Aw, and here we were having so much fun," Demir hummed in a toying tone, smiling and seeming to have even less concern for Kanda's threatening demeanor than Lavi typically did. "But of course, the shining knight had to come riding in and ruin it. Oh well." He sighed and tossed the flower in Allen's direction, hopping out onto the window sill. "Perhaps another time then. I do so lament the idea of disembowelment. Don't forget, you owe me for my services, and I expect it to be paid in full, _little flower_."

He gave Allen a sly wink before swiftly making his exit, as if he'd never been there.

Kanda ran to the window in hope of beheading the man before he could get out of reach, but it only resulted in his sword getting wedged in the window frame, missing its target. Kanda bellowed in anger, quickly taking a dagger out of his belt, hurling it at the fleeing man, but he was not sure whether he hit or not.

He ripped the sword out of the poor, demolished wood and turned to face Allen, who had his lips pursed and eyes set on the flower.

"Before you start ripping the furniture apart," the white haired man started, finally looking up, "he was-"

Kanda silenced him with a raised finger. His eyes flickered to the flower Allen held and a second later he snatched it away, crushing it in his palm.

"Keep that thought," he said, running downstairs.

Allen could hear him bark orders at the assassins, first in English, then in Japanese - and he honestly felt bad for the men directly under Kanda's order. He was not a man to take mistakes lightly. Punishments tended to be severe.

Kanda's angry shouts were soon replaced by the sound of hurried steps of the assassins who scrambled away to hunt Demir down in fear of Kanda deciding to take his fury out on them instead of the tresspaser.

A short while later, the black haired man was back upstairs, his sword already sheated but his hand still twitchy. He walked to the window and looked out as if expecting - or rather, hoping - that the man would return.

"Go on," he said and Allen heard the obvious effort Kanda put into keeping his voice even.

"He was the man who sold us the name of my hunter."

"And the price?" Kanda interrupted him.

Allen sighed. "The price was a demonstration of the Apple's power."

"You told him about it? Have you completely lost your mind?!" Kanda was losing his hardly feigned composure with every spoken word.

"He wanted me to show him how it worked, he didn't want it. He trades information, not goods."

"What if someone else pays him more? That bastard could have easily set him on you!"

"He can't be bought like that!" Now was Allen's turn to raise his voice.

"EVERYBODY CAN BE BOUGHT!" Kanda shouted, startling Allen as he slammed his fist against the broken window frame. "They bought me, too," he added, almost in a whisper. A tense silence fell in the room. They stared at each other, reading their emotions in each others' eyes - ones filled with remorse, others with sadness.

* * *

When Kanda ran off again, Lavi got curious, inching his way up towards his room and aware that Kanda was threatening someone. Of course, that someone wasn't Allen, and he was able to place the voice relatively easily.

He was also getting the sneaking suspicion that it was time to make himself scarce for a while, not leaving the den entirely, simply finding a spot where he'd be out of sight and mind while Kanda went about barking off orders and basically screaming the house down about ineptitude and hypothetical scenarios that _could have_ happened, even though they didn't.

For once, the man was showing a truly scary side, and Lavi was simply glad to have the forethought to stay out of his way for once.

He was tentative when he poked his head out just in time to see Kanda disappearing again up the stairs and followed silently, not quite daring enough to let his presence be known but neither was he lacking enough courage to stay away entirely, hanging just out of sight and merely listening.

So much chaos over just one man.

 _But that's all it ever takes, really._ And especially now, when they had just had their run in with Apollo. Technically that made it two men, because likely Kanda wouldn't be so touchy about Demir if not for the threat that Apollo posed.

He winced as Kanda's voice raised to a deafening pitch, even from outside the room. It sounded like the argument we escalating, not deflating, though he wasn't entirely sure that getting involved would help any, and not simply blow things up further. He wasn't exactly very trusted either, at least not in Kanda's eyes.

Taking in and blowing out a long breath silently, he poked into the room and decided he might as well at least _try_ to find a way to help, playing off nonchalance.

"That Demir's still as ballsy as ever, I see," he hummed, pretending not to have noticed all the shouting, even though it was entirely impossible to miss. Kanda had quite a powerful voice, even when he wasn't yelling at the top of his lungs. "Anyway, as sensitive as the current circumstances are, trying to breathe fire and roaring at everyone with ear drums left to hear it isn't really going to help anyone."

"Lavi," Allen breathed, his voice carrying a feint undertone of warning.

Kanda stood silent with his teeth clenched, slowly sliding his hand down the frame to let the blood drip on the floor instead on his clothes.

The atmosphere in the room was indeed heavy. Allen looked slightly guilty and Kanda as if he couldn't decide between worrying and going on a killing spree. Under closer inspection, it was evident that he was leaning more towards the latter than the former after Lavi made an appearance again. He dully stared ahead, suddenly completely calm and relaxed.

Tiedoll was, once again, the one to ease the tension.

Putting a hand on Lavi's shoulder, he spoke. "I think it would be good if Lavi returned to his own place for the night," he suggested, much to Allen's surprise.

"What? Why? Isn't he safer here?"

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Lavi murmured under his breath, wearing a small, humorless smile, discreetly nodding towards Kanda for Allen to see. "It may, in fact, be more hazardous to my health here than on my own, even were trouble to find me."

He hadn't been planning on trying to tease Kanda, given how short his temper was at the moment compared to his usual level of tolerance - even though that wasn't saying much, in all truth - but it seemed he didn't have to. Just being there at all was enough to fray nerves right now better left to settle.

"Anyway, I was already planning on heading to my own place, after having given it a couple days. With how active the assassins are running around right now, I probably don't have to worry too much about Apollo. I imagine he's not daring enough to show his face again just yet." He nodded reassurance at the white-haired man. "Besides, I much prefer having my own bed. The floor's really not a good place to sleep, bad for the back and all that. I'll bring you breakfast again when I come by in the morning, ya? 'make something tasty for you to enjoy."

"Oh," Allen nodded, slightly confused. "Okay then, be careful on your way back." He sounded a little bit like kicked puppy.

"Yeah," Kanda murmured, slowly turning his head towards Lavi. "Very careful." The calm, almost friendly tone he used was a slightly unsettling and made Allen throw a frown his way.

"I will," he assured. "And same to you. Anyway, 'night all! Sleep well tonight," Lavi offered up in parting with a slight wave back over his shoulder, turning to leave, before Kanda decided he'd make for a good object to take out his fury on.

Kanda waited only until Lavi stepped out of the room until he slammed it closed. He returned to the window and repeated the action but this time using less force to keep the glass from shattering.

Allen squirmed in the bed, not knowing what to do. It was evident that Kanda was still very pissed off and it was hard to come up with something that would calm him down. Maybe if they tried to talk it over...

"Kanda I-"

"Shut up," the man said, but even though his voice sounded much calmer, his eyes told a completely different story. He watched him squirm on the bed like a hawk, and Allen had the feeling that he was suspicious of something.

That is, until Kanda unstrapped his sword from his waist and propped it next to the bed. Next thing to come off was his coat, but by the time it came off and hit the floor, Kanda was already kneeling between Allen's legs, one hand pressed against the man's jaw steering him to lie down.

 _Oh..._ Allen thought, _well, I guess it could have been much worse._

He bit Kanda's lip, forcing him to draw back slightly. "Not in shape," he commented silently, but otherwise did nothing to push the man away.

"I'm aware." Kanda paused, "but the den is now completely empty."

"Tiedoll-"

"He knows better than to stay close to my room at night."

So the night turned out better than expected for Allen in the end. Kanda was very careful with what he was doing and even though Allen would not call it _'gentle'_ (because `Kanda` and ´gentle´ just didn't fit into one sentence in any context whatsoever), he couldn't say that it was not one of the best night he ever spent with the man.


	23. Testing Merits

Lavi yawned and stretched his arms above his head, regrettably feeling as though he hadn't gotten nearly enough hours. His nap the other day after he'd read to Allen and the man had fallen asleep proved to make it difficult for him to sleep himself after he'd returned to his own place, not to mention he'd had some work to do on his records once he returned as well.

Judging by the barely light sky, he couldn't have gotten more than three hours. The urge to flop back on his side and let part of the day go by was irresistibly tempting, but he forced himself to rise anyway.

Besides, Allen was going to need his breakfast, and Lavi himself had barely eaten recently too, and he needed to go and get some more things fresh for cooking. He cleaned himself up lightly before stepping outside, the streets not too busy just yet, but that wouldn't last long.

He made his way to the market near the docks, settling for some fish, vegetables, and rice. He could always make some sort of stew out of it, then. Plus some bread and soft goat cheese. Allen would probably like that as well. He certainly knew _he_ would, his own stomach already rumbling.

He considered whether or not to make something for Kanda. Perhaps it would help him get on the man's good side, or at least a little closer to it. On the other hand, maybe it would just make the ungrateful ass more pissed off instead, because it wasn't his favorite kind of food or something.

 _Knowing my luck with him so far, I'll accidentally make something he's allergic to, and he'll accuse me of trying to poison him._ He smirked at the mental image.

Heading back with ingredients in tow, he propped the door to his place open and lit the inside of a small, stone oven, stoking the fire and letting it warm up while he went about preparing everything; gathering water in a pot, chopping vegetables, and flaying the fish, tossing the skin just outside of the door. He pulled up a chair once he had everything cooking and caught some movement out of the corner of his eye, smiling as he eyed a thin, stray cat that was helping itself to the scaled fish skins on the street near his open door. The animal eyed him as it caught his stare and disappeared hurriedly with all that was left stuffed and dangling out of its jaws.

Lavi smirked wider and returned to preparing the food, making up one small dish for himself and the rest for Allen, as well as the special tea.

Packing it all up so that the stuff wouldn't get cold, he finished preparing himself to leave, and then promptly went to find the Galata den. Quite a few of the assassins were around when he returned, though many of them looked exhausted and skittish, as if they were just waiting for something to come crashing down and attack them any second. And since they had never seemed so worried about the hunter or anyone else doing so before Kanda had shown up and started raging, he could easily guess it was the Nightmare himself that they were worried about above all else.

Traipsing past them, he headed toward Allen's - technically Kanda's, but whatever - room, pausing outside to knock and waited. And waited. The invitation, however, never came, so he sighed aloud. There were only three possibilities; that they weren't in, that they didn't hear his knock(asleep, maybe), or he was being ignored. Somehow, he guessed the third was most likely.

He imagined that Kanda's opinion of him had only gone south since yesterday's happenings, rather than improved.

"Guess I gotta wait," he mused, taking up a seat somewhere to the side of the door, leaning his back against the wall. He'd considered just leaving the food there, but it might get kicked over by accident. Or Kanda might kick it over on purpose just to spite him and claim it was an accident, with how he'd glared at the food Lavi had made the day before.

* * *

Kanda heard him knock.

He actually heard him coming up the stairs and down the hall, but he wanted to see if Allen wakes up - which he didn't until the knock echoed though the door. He lay in wait until the white-haired stirred from his sleep and slapped a hand over his mouth to prevent him from calling the annyoing rabbit inside.

His reward for the action was a nasty glare and an eyeroll.

"Shh." Kanda put a finger to his lips.

Allen rolled his eyes again and pulled Kanda's hair none too lightly. The man mirrored the glare and tsked as his sat up, still not removing his hand.

"Just pretend we're not here," he whispered with a nasty grin, and just as he thought that Allen had given up, he felt a sharp pain in his hand. "Are you serious?" Kanda replied in a harsh whisper, retracting his hand quickly. "Why would you bite me!"

"Because you're being an idiot and my breakfast is waiting outside!" came the reply.

"You fucking glutton, can you think about something else than food for once?"

"Yes! How about my health?!" Allen snapped, but still keeping his voice in a murmur. "Now put on some clothes 'cause I'm calling him in!"

Kanda growled but complied - even though his face showed exactly how happy he was with Allen's orders.

Moving to the other end of the bed, he reached for his clothes, and at that moment, Allen apparently thought it would be very funny to nudge him with his foot, which resulted in Kanda almost tumbling to the floor in all his naked glory. Luckily for him, he caught himself on the window sill in the last second.

Allen burst out laughing, quickly grabbing the blanket and pulling it out of Kanda's reach so he could cover himself before Lavi came in.

"Hurry up, I'm hungry!" he said between giggles.

Kanda hastily laced the pants just as Allen shouted at Lavi to come in.

At least he didn't have to wait long.

Lavi pushed himself to his feet with the wall, picking the food up along with him, before he opened the door to saunter in with a grin, pretending not to notice Kanda and not daring to tease him again today _just_ yet. At least not until he figured out how testy the man was today, and in turn, exactly how much he could get away with.

"Special delivery for the healing 'sprout!" he joked, holding it out for the man. " 'should be cooled enough now that you can eat it without risking tongue-burn too. 'never fun when your food burns ya too much to even taste it, after all, 'specially in your case."

Allen stretched his bare legs in front of him and leaned his back against the wall. "Hmm," he sniffed the air, "smells delicious! I totally wouldn't mind if this happened every morning." He took the bowl and bread, putting it in his lap. He started eating, though more slowly than was usual for him, idly crossing his legs as he watched Kanda gather his things that have been scattered across the floor.

"Where's my hair tie?" he mumbled, turning around, his eyes scanning the room.

Allen hummed contently. "Just keep looking," he mumbled, smirking shamelessly as he raked Kanda's body with his eyes. Breakfast in bed AND a gratis strip show. And it was only morning.

"And I wouldn't mind making you something every morning, if you want," Lavi grinned. He suppressed it down to a smirk as he heard Allen's words at the same moment as he was watching Kanda, even though Lavi wasn't paying the black-haired man much mind himself.

Kanda huffed and plopped back onto the bed next to the other assassin, stealing a piece of fish from the bowl. Allen whined and tried to slap his hand away but the raven-haired man only smirked and quickly put the meat in his mouth.

"Not salty enough." He commented, totally ignoring Lavi as the redhead rolled his eye.

"I didn't make it with you in mind anyway. If you want 'salty', go lick the bottom of the Marmara or something," he quipped.

Kanda cocked an eyebrow at the redhead, watching him from the corner of his eye.

"I know something better to lick." He said, loud enough only for Allen to hear.

The assassin choked on his food suddenly, his face going red. "Despicable."

Kanda only grinned.

"You've got work to do, get out!" Allen commanded, nudging the other man with his leg again. "Shoo."

The sword-wielding assassin grumbled some more but slid of the bed again, going back to dressing up. Lavi could only blink in question, knowing that the man had said something but low enough that he hadn't caught what it was.

Oh well, probably wasn't important.

"So what are your plans for today, Lavi?"

"This may come as a surprise but I didn't have a lot planned for today, other than maybe updating my records," he hummed, taking a seat on the floor next to the bed, same spot as before, and propping his head on the edge of it. "I might just nap part of the day away, honestly. I was up pretty late doing some work back at my place, and you know me and my sleep, though I should probably just wait for nighttime. Anyway, is the food to your liking?"

"Food is great!" Allen chirped, but couldn't say more since Kanda had to butt in again.

"Oh, so you've nothing productive to do today!" he said nonchalantly, eyeing the redhead up and down. "Excellent." He grabbed his sword, securing it on his belt. Allen raised an eyebrow, his looking between Kanda's back and Lavi's face in question. "You're going on a mission with me," Kanda announced, totally disregarding any excuse Lavi might come up with.

"What? Why?" Lavi squawked, not sounding terribly fond of the idea and visibly pouting. "Maybe I'd rather stay here amongst _pleasant_ company. Ones that aren't likely to gut me just for existing in the same space."

Kanda stared at him blankly, crossing his arms on his chest. "We don't need loiterers here." He smiled then - if one could call bared teeth and a nose scrunched in the most arrogant kind of way a smile - and continued. "You'll be fine."

Allen stared at him with his mouth gaping. "You're not going to lead him away and kill him, right?" he asked with a frown.

The assassin tsked again, his mouth now forming a sarcastic grin. "No." He marched away, dragging Lavi behind him by the collar.

Allen mutely stared after them, waving faintly.

_I hope Lavi's going to be alright..._

Lavi grumbled something in another language, casting a wistful glance back at Allen just before the man was gone from his sight.

"I hope you mean that instead of just placating," he tossed at Kanda, following more willingly now since it didn't seem like Kanda wanted to give him much of a choice. "But just so you know, if you do kill me, I'll haunt you for all eternity. I'll be the most annoying ghost you've ever heard about, an' there won't be anything you can do to get rid of me then." After a moment, he also added, "And I'll curse you with nothing but infinite bad hair days. Hell, forget the hair, I'll curse you with being _bald_."

Kanda smirked. "Good thing I don't believe in ghosts."

" 'doesn't matter if you don't believe in ghosts, I'll still haunt you," Lavi returned, feeling like maybe he should take the smirk as somewhat of a victory. Maybe the guy had a sense of humor after all!

He wasn't really sure yet what sort of 'mission' Kanda had in mind for them both, but he was increasingly aware of two facts as they walked.

One was that they weren't alone, the redhead being aware of it since almost immediately after they left the den. The answer he didn't have was whether it was because Kanda had told his other men to tail them and keep watch for some reason, or if the other assassins were discreetly following the two men at their own personal discretion.

The other was that the path Kanda led him down wasn't coincidental. Very much deliberate. He had been sure that they were headed the way they were for a reason from the start, since Kanda didn't seem to type to indulge in anything pointless which would therefore not be worth the energy expended, but he was more aware of _why_ after they stopped suddenly on one of the streets and started asking him things, like how he would, hypothetically, handle the situation if they were to be ambushed right then and there.

Lavi simply shrugged and went on to explain what courses of action would be available, given all the factors to account for. Really, it wasn't a hard question, and he didn't seem to have earned any favor with his answer.

So they moved on, and Kanda asked him again from elsewhere. And another time.

Lavi was noticing that each new location Kanda asked him about how he would handle a battle or an ambush of some kind was progressively more complicated than the last, having many more factors to account for, and he was making it specifically a scenario where there was no running away, only to have to stand and fight.

 _He's testing my tactics,_ the redhead realized, though it wasn't a hard conclusion to come to. _And he's making it so I have to come up with them on the fly and see how quickly I can do it._

This time, as they passed under the Valens Aqueduct, Kanda didn't even say anything, simply crossed his arms expectantly and stared at Lavi through scrutinizing, dark eyes.

Lavi licked his lip in thought, surveying his surroundings.

Time to really show off and impress.

"There's a lot of options on how you could handle a fight here, depending on where the enemy was positioned or coming from," he hummed.

"If they were coming from the northeast side, over there, ideally you'd want to be positioned on the aqueduct itself, since the buildings are so much further away, and have long-range weapons on-hand, because the enemy would have to cover all of that open ground with nothing to hide behind. No matter if they were coming off the ground or the rooftops, they'd be easy targets. If the enemy was able to return fire, you could always hide behind either one of the arches or even crouch down to where you can't be easily seen. The enemy would also have to climb up to reach you with close-range weapons, which would be difficult, since the surface is both mostly smooth with few ledges to climb, and it's vertical. In fact, you could line up a small army in each of the arches, and pick off enemies easily from there without being seen too quickly. Same with if the enemy was coming from the southeast, you could hide in the middle archways or on top, pop out from behind one of them, and take the enemy out, then duck back into cover, although that provides some risk of the enemy has guns or other weapons too, because they can wait for someone to pop their head out and shoot them when they do. The other benefit is that if they have short-range weapons and get close, you can either drop something on them or drop down yourself and attack."

"Now, if the enemy were the ones on the aqueduct, and instead you were the one needing to reach them, there are two critical points to do that. First is the rooftop, up there," he pointed. "Where that zip-line is, which goes right over it. However, if the enemy has long-range weapons, you're likely to get shot trying to reach it, before you ever could. You can't just position gunmen on the roof to cover you though, because, like I said, they're easy targets. Where you'd actually want to position them, or rather, position some _as well as_ those on the roof is there-" he directed to an outdoor wall with a small doorway arch and windows with metal bars through them. "Ideally, the windows are the best place, because you can sneak a barrel, arrow, or bolt through, but the chances of being hit by a bullet or projectile yourself are low, and have them take out the enemies on the aqueduct while they're aiming for those who are zip-lining across or those on the roof. They could also probably poke their head over the wall there, if there's a way to climb up and see over it, and duck back down after every shot, or use that tree there to climb up and hide behind while they shoot. At the same time, it would be wise to have other people sneak around to the far side there and take them from the other side of the aqueduct if possible."

He walked underneath the arches, going to the other side.

"Now, the south side of the Aqueduct, completely different story. The middle section is to be avoided at all costs in that case, unless your enemies are purely short-range and you have long-range weapons, because it's right at the same level as the rooftops and much closer, meaning there's nowhere to hide or run to if you're getting shot at or projectiles going your way. You want to either be at the very top, or at the legs of the structure. In either case, you at least have somewhere to go to take cover. If you're positioned at the top of the archway, enemies can try to reach it by leaping from the rooftops and climbing, there-" he pointed. "...and there, so it would probably be a good idea to have some sort of trap set, like an explosive for instance, or have someone in hiding that you haven't revealed just above those points to take out anyone who manages to get across and surprise them. Now if your enemies were on the ground, coming from that direction, the only place to hide is around the corner of that building, but what you'd really have to watch out for is them going around in that direction and popping out there, where they could circle around behind through the legs of the archway to the north side, or, if you're on the top of it, they could come from the far side of the aqueduct, which would be bad, so traps would be a good idea there."

He had been watching his surroundings and directing more than looking at Kanda, entirely focused on what he was talking about, and finally fixed his gaze back on Kanda.

"Of course, if you're the one on the ground instead, then that's what I would do, is circle around while others kept them distracted. If the enemy was on the ground, then going around the legs and coming up behind the enemy would be best. If they're on the top of the aqueduct however, you would want to either climb up, or go to the far side and run across to confront them, and cut off their escape. After all, it's a long ways down. Then the others that had been providing distraction could use the rooftops to leap across to there, and reach the top easily without worrying so much about being shot, or throwing their own weapons such as bombs. However, running across the top to fight is also time-dependent. If you did it later in the evening, you would have the disadvantage, because of the sun in your eyes in the west. Likewise, if it was done early in the morning, you would have the advantage with the sun behind you and blinding them instead, which are factors that would need to be taken into account. Same with mid-day, they would have the advantage if they were above, because you would have to look up, while they're looking down, so they could easily see and aim at you while you're blinded by the sun, or vica versa. Not taking that into account could prove deadly for either side, if they don't know how to use it to their advantage, or make sure it can't be used against them."

He nodded to the nearest end of the aqueduct.

"The very southeast corner, however, would be the hardest point to defend from, and the best place to attack from, because there are so many different streets facing it and a lot more obstacles. You could sneak close and climb up from around the corner of that building there, or that wall where I said to hide and shoot from the windows. The rooftop up there has a place to take cover, so it's not quite so open, and has just enough distance that it would be hard to make a clear shot for long-range, just long enough to get them to fire a shot, have to reload, and have time to run to the aqueduct itself, or take cover if you are hit but it isn't immediately lethal. There's also the tops of those trees obstructing the view from above, there, and the staggered edges of the aqueduct structure where its been broken provides close-range cover to sneak around the bottom of it. or climb up if the enemies are on the upper levels of the structure. If you were to position a gunman there to defend it, they can be picked off easily from almost all angles except right where that arch stands, because of how many hiding places there are near it and it's proximity to the rooftops in three different directions. That makes it it's primary weak point. However, if you know that and the enemy doesn't, you can leave it alone without much defense if you're the one on the aqueduct, and if you're the enemy on the ground and realize it, it makes for the perfect infiltration point to get onto the structure yourself and take them out."

Kanda's men were not lying about the rabbit being a pretty good strategist - and using ´pretty good´ was being humble with words.

He was genuinely impressed - the bookman nuisance could actually come in handy. He briefly thought about the ineptitude of his own squad, allowing an ordinary, dirty thug to stroll into the den as if he owned the place! He could actually use the rabbit to instruct his men to take better places at watching the den.

Despite his inner state of pleasant surprise, Kanda didn't let it show on his face, and Lavi wasn't really terribly sure how much of his explanations were what Kanda wanted to hear or not, but he gave them, and at the very least, Kanda didn't appear annoyed by it or anything. Which, he figured, meant he was in good territory so far with the man.

They made their way through the city, stopping at various places where Kanda waited for Lavi's comments. The bookman had no hard time of it, this being one of the things he was good at most, and simply kept playing his part. They spent the whole day doing this, but Kanda didn't mind and Lavi seemed like he was in his element. Maybe even enjoying himself a bit too much.

The sun sailed across the sky, spreading the shadows across the city until it was completely covered by darkness. He led Lavi away from the lights, shunning the peple more and more as the time progressed. Finally he found the place.

Atmeyandi - Hippodrom of Constantinople.

The place was empty and the only sound that could be heard was the chirping of the crickets and the distant voices of singing gypsies the wind carried across the city.

Kanda turned around and waited.

"Hoping to find something here?" Lavi teased mildly, noting that they were back where Apollo had initially attacked he and Allen.

"Actually yes, but let me hear your strategy first," Kanda said calmly, walking over to the middle of the hippodrome, his eyes straying over the darkened spot on the ground that could very easily be the place where Allen bled after he used the Apple.

He stopped by the obelisk, right on the spot where the moon's light reached the ground. He raised his arms, turning around as he inspected the forsaken place.

Kanda relaxed, breathing the air of the cool night and turning his face towards the moon.

"I'm listening."

"The high ground," he nodded to the steps. "That's the main advantage, assuming the primary weapons are close-range ones. Easier to push back an enemy from above, without getting pushed back yourself, while they have to worry about climbing at the same time as fighting. With projectiles, though, the prime place would be near the obelisk or the trees, where one could hide or take cover, or through that center passage in the stairs. But that's assuming the enemy would be in the Hippodrome. If they were outside of it though, the best place is at the top, or over in that passage, with long-range weapons. The pillars can be used for cover while returning fire to an enemy on the street or the rooftops. If an enemy were to come through that passage there as well, you could drop down on them from above in ambush, or if they were going the opposite way, from around those corners," he directed with a wave of his hand.

Unfortunately for Lavi, Kanda was not listening anymore despite his words.

The man watched him with a straight, deadly calm look. That is, until Lavi turned around as he gestured. Kanda drew his sword slowly, letting the blade's whisper alert the bookman that the talking is over. Everything around them sunk into silence as if the land itself was looking forward to see what would happen next.

Kanda let the sword rest near his side, its tip almost touching the ground.

"A strategist indeed."

Lavi smiled wryly, wondering if he should be legitimately worried or not. If he was having enough time to worry about it, maybe the answer was no. Or maybe he was overthinking, like he usually did, and the answer was actually yes.

Ah, but whatever.

"Didn't you tell both me and Allen you _weren't_ going to kill me?" Outwardly, he seemed entirely relaxed, maybe even stupidly so, but he was in fact quite ready to haul ass if it turned out he needed to.

Kanda smirked, but not in the usual nasty way he seemed to fancy.

"Indeed," he said, raising his sword so the tip was now pointing at the redhead. "He trusts you, but he tends to trust many people. You proved yourself to be a good strategist," he knew ´good´ was not the word to describe the bookman's planning abilities, but he was Kanda - of course he was not going praise a man out loud. "-but how good are you when it comes to actual fight?" He charged, not waiting for the man take out his weapon and going at his left side. "En garde!"


	24. Strategy Indeed

Lavi was more ready than perhaps he led on, leaping back from the first swipe with only a couple of inches to spare, but perhaps not entirely on accident. Close or not, a miss was still a miss.

He didn't waste his energy trying to back up without tripping on the steps behind him, nor on whirling around, instead dodging around Kanda's side the opposite direction of the blade and _then_ sprinting for the steps on the other side, bounding up until he was on the third one and turning back again.

"I see social etiquette isn't the only kind you have to work on! Not very nice to start a duel without even giving your opponent any warning, you know." He was aware that the abruptness of the attack was probably fully to the point, but he couldn't quite seem to help himself with the teases even now, despite that Kanda was probably looking for a fully serious fight, not smart-mouthed banter.

Kanda didn't reply, instead speeding up, trying to outrun Lavi in climbing the steps to gain even ground. He would not let the rabbit have the upper hand. He was once again glad for his long legs that made it possible for him to jump the higher steps without any problem.

Another slash of the blade, again missing. The redhead sure was agile.

He caught a movement from the corner of his eye, on the other side of the hippodrome - the assassins. He knew they followed them but he didn't think they would keep up for so long. Kanda mentally scoffed. Looks like he was going to be rewarding some more men with extra missions and patrols.

Lavi only grinned as he leapt away from another swing, Kanda not far behind him. Kanda was an adept fighter. Even this early into it, and from the few other flashes he'd seen of Kanda brandishing his weapon, he could tell easily simply by the way the man carried himself.

Lavi, though, while not the best offensive-type fighter, was a master at evasion above all else in a fight, mainly for the fact that being a record-keeper of bloody conflicts was rather useless if one ended up dead. He could afford to taunt people like Kanda into lashing out because, despite that he gave off the impression of having a very poor sense of self-preservation for doing so, he knew how to avoid the backlash with an entire lifetime of practice under his belt.

"Going to have to be quicker than that, Yuu!" he laughed, running around the flat of the step and nimbly leaping over the small gap passageway in the center of it.

Surprisingly enough, Kanda did not react to the nickname as Lavi would have expected. Such a shame.

Kanda jumped a step higher to gain the better ground before he followed the suit and leaped over the gap, easily landing on the other side and yet again being thankful for the length and strength of his legs.

He was now higher than Lavi and he used it to push the redhead down with several sharps thrusts of his sword which the redhead yet again dodged.

Kanda was running out of patience slowly, seeing that the rabbit still didn't take the fight seriously. Time to change that.

Lavi laughed as he dodged one way or the other out of Kanda's swings, noticing as he did so that each one made Kanda's fuse grow a little shorter. He also noticed Kanda trying to get the advantage of height, bearing down on him from the higher steps.

When he saw a chance, he darted to the side along the steps, leaping down off the edge where there was a small tree, and pulled a branch along with him to let it smack back abruptly as the man was pursuing him.

That little fucking bugger still didn't take it seriously and Kanda almost couldn't hold back the yell of murder as the branch hit his face.

Lavi couldn't help but snicker as he cast a glance back over his shoulder and ducked into the shadow of the obelisk and out of sight, fully utilizing that brief moment of shock he'd let smack Kanda in the face - quite literally - to pull his spear out of his bag and snap it together into a solid piece. The entire time as he did so, he was watching the shadows on the ground, one in particular, to see which direction Kanda would take to circle around the obelisk and attack, deciding he would move the opposite way and come up behind him.

When he did, he'd also have his weapon this time, and hopefully the element of surprise since he'd deliberately hit to where the other man wouldn't see him pull it out.

Kanda had had enough of it, deciding it was time to end the games. He jumped down from the steps, taking out two little blades. As silently as he could, he moved slightly to the left, his eye trained on the handle of Lavi's weapon. Kanda threw the first blade and as soon as he heard the clang of the metals he ran the other way around the obelisk, throwing his other blade as soon as he sighted the silhouette in the shade.

Lavi automatically ducked to the other side, but Kanda had anticipated that he'd do that, and he hissed as the small blade managed to catch flesh. It wasn't bad, but it still _hurt_ , the redhead dancing back and holding his weapon pointed toward Kanda in preparation, dislodging the small knife from his shoulder.

"Jesus, you don't play around, huh?" he mused, an easygoing tone still present in his voice, but noticeably less joking than before, a little more seriously focused.

Kanda readied his sword again, taking a more professional stance.

"You play around too much. Joking is over. Show me what you've got."

Lavi only wore a thin, knowing smile. There was more method to his 'playfulness' than simply trying to take the fight as a joke, but he chose not to inform Kanda of this, instead simply focusing.

If the man wanted something more serious, he'd give it to him.

They both waited, their weapons brandished and bodies tense. The trigger of the real duel was a hawk's cry in the distance.

Kanda charged, aiming for Lavi's left side again with a thrust of his sword. The bookman had a longer weapon than him, but that didn't neccessarily put him into advantage. Kanda decided to get as close as possible to keep the point behind him rather than in the front. After all, it's not like he could backstab him like that.

He tried to attack the middle but Lavi blocked it, forcing Kanda to twist away from his blade.

The bookman danced back at the same moment Kanda twisted away, putting a little more distance between them, before lunging forward, jabbing toward the man with one swift motion and then drawing it back again close, just like a snake lashing and then drawing back into its own coils, staying light on the balls of his feet so he could leap away from another attack when it came.

Kanda charged again, thrusting his sword at Lavi's left and then slashing downwards, missing the target but leaving a crease in the ground instead.

They danced around, both trying to disarm the other, and every second suddenly felt like a long minute. Kanda then paused, and readjusted his hold on the sword so that he held it on his left like Lavi did. A second later, he attacked again, only this time aiming for the javelin's joints.

Lavi noticed what Kanda was doing and angled his weapon slightly at the same moment that the man's katana hit, so that the force of the blow slid instead of cut solidly, the joint snapping, though entirely as it was supposed to. He deliberately let the chain go slack and absorb most of the impact, smirking as he suddenly yanked the limp chain taut and bounced the blade back up, the links audibly snapping, and used the same moment to kick out at Kanda's gut.

Kanda backed away, a smirk plastered on his lips.

"Not bad." He spat on the ground. Returning to the basic stance again, he charged, this time raining slashes on the redhead to see how fast he could block. He was pleasantly surprised to see that the man could keep up.

They pushed back and forth, still tied, until Kanda noticed the clouds nearing in on the moon and jumped back, lowering his sword so that the shine of the moonlight didn't reach the blade.

"Impressive," Kanda said as he slowly backed away into the darkness until he completely submerged into it, waiting until the clouds completely hid the moon. The last hint of Kanda's whereabouts Lavi received before the night completely swallowed the place was a brief glitter of light that bounced off Kanda's sword.

Lavi's single eye flicked about the darkness, but normal sight was entirely useless to pierce the shadows, save for only the faintest hint of movement that wasn't enough to give away the full figure.

"Not bad yourself," he tossed, taking a few careful steps to circle, knowing that Kanda wasn't staying stationary and yet he was moving with precision and silence, well-practiced at his art of stealth. Of course, one should expect nothing less, of an Assassin. How he was able to see to move so effectively, Lavi could quickly guess, his own special eye becoming honed to pierce the darkness and see the man lunging towards him, raising his weapon to block the attempted blow, metal screeching on metal. "But _not_ quite enough to catch me off-guard."

To say Kanda was surprised was an understatement.

He immediately drew back, his body reflexively stopping in a defensive pose, his sword firmly in front of him. Despite his hearing sense subdued in the favor of his sight, he could still clearly hear Lavi's remark.

"Aren't you full of surprises?" Kanda said, his tone betraying his slight agitation. He'd let himself underestimate the rabbit, and for some reason, he imagined Allen laughing at him for the mistake.

So the advantage the darkness provided turned out to be useless. Nothing but a fight head-on remained.

"As you put it: A strategist indeed." And a strategist never revealed every card until he was backed into using them. Kanda may have thought his Eagle Vision gave him an advantage, and usually he would be right, but not this time.

Because Lavi had known about it, but Kanda hadn't known about _his_.

Kanda smirked, charging right afterwards. So it seems this will be a battle of endurance.

Another dance of blades followed, their music being the cries of the metals as they clashed. Kanda kept aiming at the joints most of the time, making an exception of thrusting his sword outwards, right at Lavi's right side. They turned several times, neither pushing back the other one until Kanda finally managed to nick the right side of Lavi's face with his blade.

Lavi instinctively ducked back when the blade tip caught his 'blind' side, dancing several steps back and raising an arm to press the back of his hand toward the wound.

It was directly _after_ that he realized one of the strings of his patch was severed, and that it was no longer covering, that he swore profusely under his breath, still covering it with the one hand, so that when Kanda attacked him again, his defense was less effective and it knocked his weapon aside, leaving him open for just a split second.

He cursed again let the weapon slide through his palm until he grabbed the chain on the far end, kicking the far point of the spear-head and giving it momentum to swing in front of him in a wide, high arc toward Kanda's own face when he went charging in again, hoping to get him to back off.

The assassin leaned back, away from the spear's tip and then forward, attacking Lavi from below.

Kanda managed to push him backwards a good distance while the redhead recovered from the loss of his eye patch. Kanda kept thrusting and slashing from every side trying to make use of Lavi's distraction as much as possible but the redhead was quick to recover and soon enough, they were even again in dealing hits.

Lavi didn't end up getting much choice other than to lower his hand away from his eye if he hoped to defend or fight back at all. Other than having it closed, it looked normal, not injured or anything.

He managed to recover and keep pace again for a while, though he was still somewhat distracted and kept shaking his head both abruptly and briefly, like an impulsive, agitated tick of some kind that was progressively making him lose focus and his edge in the fight.

Finally it just got to be too much of a distraction, the redhead holding up a halting hand after he put a little bit of distance between them.

"Yuu, hold on, let's pause for a moment."

But Kanda didn't listen. He quickly minimalized the space between them and kept delivering blows that Lavi indeed blocked but now with evident difficulties.

Lavi grit his teeth in frustration. Bloody Hell was this guy tenacious. Or maybe that wasn't the word for it, but he couldn't think of one more suitable at the moment, having to pour all of his focus into just parrying and blocking attempted blows.

Geez, was the guy _legitimately_ trying to kill him, or what?

Kanda felt the rush of adrenalin in his veins quicken with the vision of victory and he would have taken it, if it wasn't for the voice that suddenly interrupted them.

"Kanda! Kanda!" An assassin yelled as he ran towards them. The raven haired man stopped in his advance against Lavi and glanced to the side at the one who dared to intervene. "Bad news!" the man said between breaths.

Lavi couldn't have been happier to have their fight interrupted, making it a point to put a few steps between them when Kanda finally stopped, not completely dropping his guard but relaxing somewhat and covering his eye again with the back of his hand silently.

"What is it?" Kanda asked in a low growl.

The assassin stumbled before he came to a stop in front of them and took three seconds to catch his breath before he spoke again.

"Another body was found. Exactly like the last one but only with a cross carved into it. We think it might be the Hunter again."

"Where?" Kanda asked sharply, promptly sheathing his sword.

"Forum Bovis." The man pointed to the general direction of the place.

Kanda then turned on his heel and walked a few feet back, bending over and picking something from the ground before throwing it back at Lavi.

"Here," he said, then dashed off, wasting no time to see whether anyone was following.

Lavi caught it easily and muttered a slightly reluctant thanks before following more at his own pace. It wasn't as if he didn't know where they were going anyway, so why bother rushing? All the same, it was probably unwise to stay entirely on his own if such were true.

Forum Bovis was very close to where they were, and the kill was probably fresh, since they had passed it earlier without knowing about it, which meant the killer might not be far.

He kept his weapon out up until he caught up with them, only stowing it away once he had the assassins around him again and wouldn't have to worry about potentially being attacked.

His single eye briefly flitted over the body and the others standing by, but his attention was uncharacteristically short-lasting as he instead examined the strings of his patch and tried to tie them back together, at least until he'd be able to replace it later, still occasionally shaking his head or raising a hand to his eye as if it bothered him.

Kanda stood close to the body, glaring at it as if it could come back to life if he did it hard enough. He clenched his fists so hard he was sure his nails are going to leave a permanent marks on his palm.

"What was everyone doing while this happened?" He asked with a voice that was a calm before the storm. The assassins stayed silent, few of them even backing away slightly. "WHAT WERE YOU DOING?!"

"Following us, probably," Lavi hummed distractedly as he was tying the severed ends of his patch strings back together, though not so out of touch from what Kanda was saying - as if anyone could miss the man's shouting. Ever. - that he couldn't still contribute to what was being said, since it didn't seem like anyone else was brave enough to admit it. "A lot of them have been tailing us since this morning, for whatever reason. Probably interested to see what you had in mind for dealing with me, since I'm guessing you didn't order it."

Lavi was stating the obvious and it was only adding fuel to the fire that Kanda felt flare inside him, but he let it go without comment, since he was more pissed about the evident lack of cautiousness of his men.

They have been told to be careful. They have been told to go in groups. He had warned them, ORDERED them to watch each others' backs and they disobeyed.

And here was the result - a body of a young man, younger than Allen maybe, laying on the ground, cut open and mutilated. It was one of the local youngsters, not his squad, but still under his command.

A though briefly flashed though his mind. Did Allen know him?

He raged and yelled, not caring if he woke up the entire city and didn't stop until he lectured each of the assassins that followed him and the redhead instead of patrolling the city. His mind was slowly filled with all the _what ifs_ and _could have beens_ \- not a good thing. Lavi was silent through Kanda's tirade, fixing up his patch, at least as good as it was going to get for now, and watched the men get word-whipped quite thoroughly until Kanda had probably managed to rouse every person on this side of the straight.

He could only imagine that Apollo was probably hiding somewhere just close enough to be laughing victoriously over it too.

Kanda stopped then, leaving the place in utter silence and ordered the men to take the body away and prepare the burning. Lavi wasn't far behind, this time neither of them having a following, even though every single member of the guild probably wasn't required to tend to the body. The man sure knew how to scare others off when he wanted to.

For a while he was silent, letting Kanda simmer to himself for a while, before he deemed it an appropriate time to open his mouth again.

"Y'know I realize you're pissed, but you could probably take the time to try tactics that don't involve yelling at or threatening people for once," he suggested idly, not sounding particularly like he cared much but offering up the words none the less. "Though I imagine you'll probably blow off that bit of advice anyway."

Kanda whipped his head around, focusing on Lavi.

"You think we could have caught him?" he asked in a furious whisper that gradually escalated into barely repressed shouting. "You think I don't know him? I have cleaned bodies after him for more than _five, fucking, YEARS_! I know how he works! He doesn't kill unless he's sure he has enough time to mutilate the victim and vanish! FUCK!" he cursed, turning around and marching a few steps away, trying to calm his head and sort his thoughts out.

He saw many of Apollo's victims. And he hated the fact that the majority of them were Allen's former students.

 _HOW_ did this happen? He had the city secured! There were patrols and spies all around! Even the dumb Byzantine guards knew about him and they still couldn't do a thing.

"How old could he have been? Twenty?" He kicked a stray stone on the ground and sighed, turning his face towards the sky. "We need to get back to the den." And by that he meant they should tell the sprout about it.

"That's not really what I was saying," Lavi said after some lapse of deliberate silence, eye focused on Kanda's back as the man walked ahead of him. He paused again, before asking a rather abrupt question that he was sure would probably catch Kanda off-guard. "Let me ask you something. When was the last time you did the opposite of yelling at or just ordering your men around, honestly? Like praising or thanking them for something, for instance."

"Thank them?" Kanda asked, raising his eyebrows sarcastically. "They get their thanks every time they have the chance to return to the den still drawing breath!" He took a step closer. "I have given them the chance to change their miserable lives when I recruited them and trained them. Each and every one of these men were deserters, drunkards, and ordinary thugs when I met them! They are supposed to be the best of the best, and now they have failed to protect one of their own, and you want me to say my _thanks_?! We are assassins. We do not _thank_ each other for a mission well-accomplished. We thank another when he eases our suffering while we stand on the brink of death."

With that he spun around and headed towards the den. Lavi only shrugged, following along just a few paces behind. Really, it was no wonder to him why they had gotten sloppy enough that it had ended in someone's death, despite that it was obviously some sort of glaring mystery to Kanda.

"And that's exactly why they don't follow what you tell them," he hummed, unaffected by Kanda's anger. "A skilled fighter, maybe, but calling your leadership skills sub-par would probably be generous." Maybe not the wisest statement to make, but an honest one, as far as he was concerned, and Kanda's attempts to scare him like he did everyone else weren't nearly as effective as the man obviously intended. If the man's temper flared, then so be it.

Kanda was seething, but he let the comment slide. He knew that Lavi was right.

He wasn't the best leader - he's never going to be one. But the men chose him, leaving him no choice than to accept and bear with it. He didn't ask much of them and they knew it. He taught them the same thing Tiedoll did - the creed - the only rule they had: Nothing is real. Everything is permitted.

Well, not everything, per se. Kanda forbade one thing - betrayal. The only thing he asked for is loyality, nothing else. His men are free to do what they want, the only thing they can't do is betray. Whether it is him, the creed, or each other.

This night they broke a part of the rule. They turned their backs on one of their own, seeking entertainment and allowing themselves to get caught off guard.

And now it is up to him to tell Allen about it. It was better that way but he hated it the same. He took him to Constantinople so he could finally have his rest after everything that's happened in Italy, but instead of finding peace, all Allen found was more tragedy.

So Kanda stands in his room now and watches how Allen's shoulders sag even lower and his eyes gain another dark shade.

* * *

Lavi left Allen to Kanda's attention for a short while after returning, instead tending to is own few, small wounds in the meantime, partially to wash the already-dry blood off, especially from his face. Facial wounds always bled so much for even some of the most shallow cuts, after all, and Kanda sure had left a nice, long laceration just shy of his eye.

It was after that that he went to go see Allen, whom he was sure Kanda had probably broken the news to already, and just a quick glance confirmed his suspicions. Probably a good thing then that he'd shown himself, both to assure the white-haired man that he was fine and also that he could try and offer some comfort, even if that came in the form of simply putting on a cheerful voice and tossing his arms around the man's neck affectionately, though still being careful about not putting too much weight on him, mindful of the other's still-healing wounds.

"Allen~!" He rested his head on shoulder and groaned complaint in his breath. "Three hours of sleep is not enough to have to put up with such a sour-puss all day. How ya feelin' since this morning?"

"Oh, Lavi," Allen said, not even pretending to be alright this time. His voice told Lavi exactly how he felt to hear about another murder. "I am fi - what is wrong with your face?" he asked suddenly, a little livelier than a second ago. The younger assassin seized him with his eyes from top to bottom and then glared at Kanda. "What the hell did you do?" he demanded with a frown.

Kanda shrugged nonchalantly, avoiding the other's eyes. "Nothing, really."

Nothing, indeed! Especially when Lavi had just tried calling for a quick break, not even just calling it quits entirely.

"Yuu was being mean and picking on me!" Lavi whined, playing the part of the innocent, victimized child in this perhaps a little too well as he rolled slightly to the side, flopping over to let his head rest on Allen's thigh as a cushion. "Y'see what he did to me? My perfect looks, gone! Ruined forever! It ain't my fault he was jealous that I was so good lookin'!" Honestly, such a drama queen. "Now I'll never be the same! Cuz Yuu is a jerk."

While the redhead made himself comfortable on Allen´s leg and whined about his non-existent beauty, Kanda glared at him as if the man had killed his entire family and ate his dinner to the boot.

_The nerve...!_

"Kanda!" Allen scolded, snapping the assassin out of his morbid thoughts about how to get rid of the damn, good-for-nothing bookman. "You said you only wanted to talk!"

"We talked alright," Kanda growled. "-and I think we're going to talk very soon again."

Lavi couldn't help but smirk slightly, not moving despite that he was aware of Kanda glaring death and swords down on him with his eyes.

"Oh, I'm sure he has plenty to say," he yawned, quite content to stay where he was for the moment. Kanda was going to get Allen all to himself the entire rest of the night. He could spare giving up the white-haired man's company for all of five or ten minutes. "Opening his ears and listening to anything other than his own hot air though, that's another story entirely. I'd say he owes me a new eye patch too, but I already know he's not going to do it."

Allen huffed unhappily. "You guys, why can't you just stop messing around with each other?" he asked, brushing off a stray wisp of hair on Lavi's forehead.

Whether he pretended not to notice, or was genuinely unaware of the bouts of deadly air Kanda was radiating at that moment, nobody knew.

Lavi leaned his head into the touch like a cat into a petting, more than happy for the small act of affection.

Kanda's temper be damned, he was allowed to enjoy some time with Allen and Allen was allowed to choose giving it. It wasn't as if he was threatening to stand in the way of their relationship, and Allen would never let him do that even if he'd wanted to try. Which he didn't.

And he was sure Allen knew without it needing to be said that he would never cross that boundary of trying to tempt the other into unfaithfulness, which was why he was even allowed to get so close.

"I think you should hurry home," Kanda said, his voice perfectly betraying how much he has to strain himself not to murder the redhead on the spot, "before _something bad_ happens..."

"Hey, don't look at me. I didn't start it this time," he shrugged, first at Allen, before finally rebuking towards Kanda, "and maybe you should go maul a defenseless pillow or something and leave reasonable people to talk for all of two seconds." It was as much a valid suggestion for venting on his part as it was a biting quip.

Kanda looked as if he wanted to say something, or better yet, scream it, but he resolved to give Allen a look that was a mix of wistfulness and anger to which Allen replied with a wave of his hand.

"Maybe Lavi is right," he hummed nonchalantly. The face Kanda made when he heard that was priceless. "I'm sure you're hungry. Make something for me as well, will you?" He smiled, but Lavi could clearly see some temper underneath that pretty and gentle facáde.

Kanda gaped for a second before storming downstairs.

When Allen was sure he was not going to hear them, he gave a piece of his mind to the redhead as well. "Leave reasonable people to talk?" he scolded, hitting Lavi on his head. "You are everything BUT reasonable! What did you two do this time?"

Lavi only grinned under the cruzing, despite that it probably wasn't what Allen was going for, flinching under the smack to his head.

"Hey, I was just trying to get rid of him for a while, and it worked." His strategy didn't end at battlefields, after all. Insighting Allen's temper meant that he spared himself Kanda's for the moment. "And I _did_ try to give the man sincere advice earlier that wasn't sarcastic, but he's like an angry snapping turtle floundering on its back. You try to put him right-side-up and instead he bites the hand that tries to help."

He paused to stretch for a moment before glancing up through one eye from where his head was resting on Allen's lap, yawning again. After minimal sleep and the day he'd contended with, he was definitely going to rest deeply tonight.

"Anyway, at first all we really did was talk. He wanted to test my worth as a strategist himself while we patrolled the city. Then he wanted to spar, but as I probably don't have to tell you, he takes it way too seriously and doesn't give any leeway once he starts. Maybe it was just to see how I'd react to being pushed toward a corner, but if he didn't plan on at least giving me a scar to remember him by," or outright kill him, though he left that part unspoken. "-he did a real good job of pretending it wasn't just a sparring match."

"Usually when I want to put him the ´right-side-up´ he doesn't lash out. You just need to know how to approach him," Allen tutored, holding up a finger to make his point. "And I know. He told me the night before but I didn't think he would go this far. I don't know what has gotten into him. He seems snappier than usual."

He bit his lower lip, glancing at the door where Kanda disappeared a while ago.

"Say Lavi," he started, suddenly sounding unsure, "was the man, I mean - the one you found - did you think he suffered much?"

"I don't know," Lavi answered honestly, tone carefully gentle. "I wasn't there. A lot of wounds that aren't instantly fatal render people unconscious quickly though, from the sudden blood loss, so maybe he didn't feel much of anything after the first strike." It was the best he could offer, but it was better than nothing. "Anyway, it doesn't matter anymore. Whatever he felt then, he's no longer in pain now, so you no longer need worry over him, okay? Nothing can hurt him anymore."

Allen nodded mutely, staring into distance.

"I think you should go. I need to talk to Kanda now. He seemed unhappy." He stared at the door again. "Be careful on your way home, please."

"About that," Lavi hummed, sitting up. "There's really no easy or entirely gentle way to say this, but that temper of his could be what's going to get more of his people killed." He was entirely serious, dropping playfulness and joking by the wayside. "His men probably aren't getting sloppy all of a sudden just for the sake of being sloppy. They're demoralized and unwilling to take orders as seriously as they should because of it. Maybe making them fear him more than Apollo is just Kanda's way of doing things, but it's already carrying heavy consequences. I should probably talk to him about that, but I know this isn't the right time, and even when it is, I hazard a guess he isn't going to like what I have to say, even though it needs saying."

He leaned to the side to give Allen a one-armed hug in parting, resting his head sideways against Allen's.

"Anyway, you take care too. I'll see you come morning, 'bring you a nice breakfast again. Until then, this rabbit needs his sleep," he laughed, letting go and standing. "Good night."


	25. Like Cats and Dogs

Lavi slept like a log. And yet he _still_ probably could have gone for a few more hours of sleep. Not for lack of rest and refreshment, but just for the sheer sake of enjoyment cozying away in his bed where he was warm and comfortable. It wasn't as if he had to worry about his old mentor smacking him awake now after all, but in the end, he forced himself to get up, stretching skyward.

He went about his morning routine of cleaning himself up and cooking something for Allen to enjoy again before heading to the den.

Hopefully Kanda would be a little less volatile today, but he doubted as much.

Then again, miracles do sometimes seem to happen, and when he arrived, it was to find Kanda already downstairs and awake, and... unusually placid.

 _Should I be happy, or worried?_ Eh, he'd save worrying until there was a blade to his throat, and no sooner. Otherwise it was just unnecessary stress.

He passed on by without really regarding the man a proper look and headed up towards the bedroom to deliver breakfast, looking forward to seeing Allen's face brighten, only to find it unoccupied and looking suspiciously bare.

Odd.

He glanced around downstairs, but saw no hide nor hair of Allen around. Maybe he'd just needed the bathroom or something.

He headed towards Kanda.

" 'morning, Yuu. Seen the 'sprout around by any chance?"

Kanda looked up from the tea he was drinking with a calm, relaxed face, and pronounced a very satisfied, "No," with a slight shrug of his shoulders and hint of a tone of such false innocence that it would make one's ears bleed.

What a terrible liar. Was Kanda even really trying, or was he deliberately trying to let his demeanor do all his gloating for him?

Lavi smiled at him with false cheer.

"Of course you know."

"I really don't." He shook his head, drinking the last bit of tea from his cup. "I have no idea." He then looked around, as if searching for something. "Oh right, and since he's not here, you have no reason to stay."

A very bad actor.

He smiled, just as someone from the other side of the hall shouted his name. Kanda nodded at the assassin and stood up, taking his sword and tying it to his belt.

"Good luck," he said, brushing past Lavi. He didn't need to finish the sentence for Lavi to understand what he meant.

What a cheeky bastard. And coming from him of all people, that was saying a lot.

Of course, Kanda's victory wasn't nearly as assured as the man probably thought. He had been around long enough to know who would talk given the right reasons. Who the biggest loose end in the other man's probably self-thought genius plan was.

Of course, even without the help, the house wasn't hard to spot once a person found the right area, given the assassins blatantly stationed outside of the building. Really, could they be any more conspicuous? They were just lucky it was him sneaking by, and not the hunter, especially given that their attention was quite easily diverted by a strategically tossed noise bomb.

So much for his brilliant security team.

Lavi quickly tapped his fist on the window in semi-quiet, rapid succession while he was still watching for the return of the guards.

"Hey, Allen, breakfast!"

"Ah, Lavi! Good to see you! I thought you were busy today!" he said as he pushed the window open. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit for me to open the door. Kanda took the keys and I'm not sure where the spares are. Unless you want to climb though the window," he added, glancing on either side of the empty street.

"Not busy enough to not bring you breakfast," Lavi smiled, handing it off to him. "And do you want me to come in? Cuz if not, I should probably scoot out of here before the watchdogs come back. Yuu doesn't know I even know of this place."

Allen laughed and shook his head. "No, it's alright. Kanda won't be coming back 'til night and the others are also pretty busy today. Want to climb though the window?"

"Do I get a choice?" Lavi laughed quietly, casting a quick glance around before climbing through and hopping down. He waited until Allen had the window shut and covered again to speak once more. "So I take it this 'run off until the sun goes down' business is normal for him?"

Allen sighed unhappily after he made himself comfortable in his bed again.

"That is actually what I wanted to talk about. About the thing you mentioned yesterday - with his way of leading. We talked yesterday, or we tried at least. He was too... distracted because of what happened to one of his men yesterday."

He took a breath started explaining.

"Kanda may seem ruthless and strict the way he speaks but that is just his way of showing he cares. Why do you think he's never around during the day? He is out with his men, doing everything he can to fix everything that went wrong during his absence. He never leaves anyone behind, even though he says things like ´once the mission begins, everyone is on their own´."

That particular thing made him think about their first mission in Italy. He paused for a while, reminiscing.

"He did not take the leadership willingly but he tries his best. His men respect him for that and I hope you'll see it one day too."

"I really couldn't care less," Lavi shrugged apathetically, taking a seat and propping his chin on palm. "In the end, it doesn't affect me whether or not he's harsh or how he chooses to do things. It's just a waste of time for me to let his abrasiveness bother me."

His way of saying that he'd already let go of any ill feelings he might have had toward the guy.

"However, intent isn't the same as the actual affect that it has, and I get the feeling that he doesn't really know how to separate and recognize the two. It's good that he tries to make up for it with real action," especially since words were often cheap and easily spun with nothing backing them. "All the same, if the only attention he ever gives outside the battlefield is punishments and hard words, then he's going to sow just as much resentment as he does respect, and that's going to cause problems no matter how many times he yells at them to shape up. Loyalty can be just as damning as betrayal if it keeps people from bringing up issues that need to be addressed, regardless of how difficult that is, whether it be out of what they think of as respect, or out of fear of retaliation. You get what I'm saying?"

"I do," Allen nodded, squeezing his hands in his lap. "I really do. I just... don't want you two to fight." A smile then appeared on his face. "He said you're a pretty good fighter," he teased, trying to ease the situation. "He seemed satisfied with you in the end. Not that he said it out loud." He grinned, shifting his attention to the food Lavi brought. "So what is it today?" he asked, sniffing the pot.

Lavi smiled.

"You don't need to worry about me. I know what I can or can't handle, and Yuu still falls under the category of 'can'. All things considered, I think I'm figuring out his ticks and triggers pretty well already." Even if it had taken hitting more than a few nerves in the process of trying to learn how to act around him, and also how much he could get away with. "And it's Sopa de Ajo. It's a Spanish soup dish with garlic, eggs, bread, and paprika, plus some other stuff but everything else usually changes depending on the region of the country."

"Sounds yummy!" Allen chirped, digging straight in. "So, any plans for today?"

"Not much, really," Lavi mused. "Might ask around a bit for some rumors, see if that turns up anything Kanda and the others haven't already found, and work on some of my records and studies." He stood for a moment and peeled back the very corner of one of the curtains to peer outside. "I still got time though. Going to have to wait until the guys outside are a little more lax to sneak back out without being spotted." He returned to his seat.

It wasn't too bad though. Just like Allen said, Kanda didn't return too quickly, so they had some time to chat, and around noon, he was able to slip back out while some of the assassins stationed outside snuck off to grab some lunch, and those that remained were too distracted by thoughts of the food that was going to be brought back to notice him slip right by as their backs were turned to one of the windows.

Allen spent the rest of the day writing down reports the assassins brought, sorting them out and piling them up by his bed. He was done with his work earlier than he expected, seeing that the night was still young and decided to re-read some of the reports from the day before to pass the time.

An hour or so later, when he barely even registered what he was actually reading, the soft sound of lock snapping open caught his attention. A second later, Kanda emerged though the door, quickly shutting it behind him. He laid the sword on the table, massaging his neck.

"Hello," Allen greeted, putting the papers away. "Busy day?"

Kanda sighed and sat on the bed. "Kind of." He seemed more tired than usually.

"Complications?"

"Not really, just too much walking." He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and scanned the room, his eyes freezing on the bowl that sat on the edge of the table. "What's that?" he asked, forcing himself to sound as nonchalant as possible although he couldn't get rid of the bad feeling that made his gut feel like a nest of bees.

"Oh that? Lavi stopped by, bringing me some food," Allen replied distractedly as he leaned over and started undoing the buttons on Kanda's jacket. "Hey!" he yelped when the man stood up without a warning, grabbing his sword. "What's wrong?"

"That damn rabbit!"

"Kanda?"

But it was already too late. Allen stared at the door through which the assassin stormed out, finding himself completely alone again. "Ah well," he sighed, falling backwards onto his pillow, deciding to take a nap until Kanda came back again.

_Just what was that about?_

* * *

After slipping away from the house where Kanda had tried to stash Allen away, Lavi went about working on writing his own reports in his log book, back in his own place, up until he was caught up with current happenings.

Still having some while before night would fall, he went about asking for rumors or possible sightings of anyone they needed to worry about, mainly Apollo, and taking note of various things throughout town that seemed relevant, then heading back to the Galata den to peek through the Assassin's record logs and compare the information written in it to the things he'd heard and seen throughout the day, trying to make sure they were up to date or if anything important might have been missed.

It was while he was standing there in the library, flipping through the pages and checking the validity of the records that he heard a door slam loudly and a few shouted words that were impossible to miss who it belonged to, even if he wasn't really paying attention to what was being said exactly.

The redhead glanced up from his book, and was met with Kanda's glare not long after, focused explicitly on him. If the bookman was at all concerned about Kanda's anger, he didn't show it, simply looking the part of silently questioning what the man wanted.

"How?" he simply asked, physically unable to frown more.

Lavi smiled innocently at him, deciding to play the same game as Kanda had tried with him earlier that morning.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Kanda gritted his teeth, seething. "You know very well what I'm talking about you damn one-eyed rabbit! How did you find my house?!"

"Oh Yuu~" Lavi hummed, still smiling with infuriating cheer as he smacked his book shut between both hands. "You spent the entire day yesterday drilling me on advanced strategy, and you're still asking me 'how'?"

The assassin growled, only barely holding himself from murdering the man. He spun around and stormed out. A few seconds after that, Tiedoll entered the library, offering Lavi a kind of conspiratory smile.

"You look very satisfied with yourself today."

"I get my kicks where I can," Lavi shrugged, placing the book back into it's place on the shelf and nodding discreet appreciation towards the older man. "Anyway, excuse me for a moment."

Passing by in a light saunter in the direction Kanda had headed, he quickly added, "Oh, and, don't worry too much about stepping in for me." Having said that, he skipped after Kanda before he could get too far, grabbing the very end of his ponytail before he could disappear entirely, just long enough to give it a light tug. "Hey, Yuu! Since you're here anyway..."

Once he felt the tug on his hair Kanda drew his sword and spun around, missing Lavi's gut by a hair.

"You little fuck! Better run before I cut you into pieces!"

And with another swing upside he charged at the redhead, slashing at the man every time he had the chance.

Lavi held up his hands in a placating manner, but quickly whirled around when Kanda ignored it, the redhead bolting across the room, noting as he did so that the curious audience they had quickly lost interest in watching and quickly gained interest in scattering out of the way, further than may have been strictly necessary.

"Come on, Yuu! Quit trying to be so mean, it was just a little tug! It's not like I made you bald or anything!" If anything, that only seemed to set the man's temper higher and he barely dodged under a swing that had his sword thoroughly lodged in a door frame, enough that the Japanese male had trouble pulling it loose again.

Lavi ducked around him and sprinted to the doorway of another room, still watching in anticipation to see if he needed to keep running.

And oh, that was definitely the case.

Kanda heaved his blade out of the wood and snarled like a hound as he raced after the redhead, taking the corner with a hand on the doorframe to steer his forward momentum.

He swung for Lavi's head, but the man ducked.

He swung for his legs, and true to his damn nickname, the rabbit hopped right over it.

He aimed for the center where he couldn't dodge or leap and _still_ that slippery bastard managed to avoid his swing. The unfortunate walls and door frames and a few pieces of furniture, however, didn't.

Lavi ducked around an object and Kanda chased him in a circle around it, before whirling the other way to catch him, but Lavi reversed direction just as skillfully and didn't fall for even _one_ of his feints.

Fed up, Kanda finally leapt on top of the obstacle and tried to leap right on top of him, bringing his sword point down and only managing to put a hole in the floor, not the laughing, perpetual thorn in his side that dove forward, sprung to his feet, and ran off again.

Damn that fucking nerve-grating bunny bastard and his quick reflexes straight to the deepest pits of Hell!

He sprang after the man, even punched a hole through a wall with his sword and _almost_ succeeded in stabbing him but such fantasy didn't come to pass.

When he went through another doorway, his eyes wandered in search of the man that had managed to elude him but saw nothing. Instead it was more sensing and hearing the guy behind him, creeping out from hiding behind the door, that did it and he spun around just as Lavi started to spring again.

The second of head-start Lavi gained through this complication was not, however, enough for Lavi to escape.

Kanda used the distance between them to get a nice run up and then jumped, stepping on the redhead's foot when he landed as he was trying to escape through another doorway, yet again thankful for the advantage his long legs provided him with.

Tiedoll awkwardly scratched his head where he stood at the end of the hallway wondering whether he should step in or not as he watched Lavi fell to the ground, Kanda following right after, throwing his first successful punch.

Lavi managed to wringle out from under Kanda but the second he got to his feet again, he was shoved against the wall and immobilized by the tip of Kanda's sword.

"Any last words?"

"Feel better?" Lavi asked, holding up his hands in defeat as he smiled nervously, having managed to dodge long enough to leave the other at least slightly out of breath. "Now that you've probably gauged up every wall?"

He felt the tip of Kanda's sword press a little more into the flesh of his neck and flattened himself back slightly further.

"You won't." He sounded entirely confident in those words, despite that any other person, especially those who seemed to know him best - the assassins that had already abandoned the entire building or hid well enough to make one believe so - would be terrified shitless and fully believe he would. "You and I both know the 'sprout would never forgive you for it if you did. Plus, I have skills a lot of your subordinates lack and that even you can't teach."

As Lavi talked, a vicious smile appeared on Kanda's face.

"Oh wouldn't I?" And maybe he would if it was not for Tiedoll carefully grabbing the blunt side of the blade and pushing it away.

"Now, now. Think about all the blood you'd have to clean up. Play nice, children."

Kanda's answer was a scoff but he still sheathed the sword.

Lavi only smiled victory.

"Such temper," he teased. "And over such a little thing, too. You really should do something about that. There might still be hope for you to get unstuck if you could simply learn to control it a little better."

What Kanda suspected Lavi probably didn't expect was the black-haired male whirling and punching him square in his face. And he was really not holding back this time.

Oh, did that hurt. But then, Kanda never seemed one to pull his punches, _literally_ in this case, so he should have expected as much.

Lavi easily could have been angry. Maybe even retaliated and turned it into an all-out brawl if he'd wanted to. He wasn't going to give Kanda the satisfaction of letting it change anything in his demeanor though, massaging his face with one hand and smiling as he pushed himself back up using the wall.

"One more word and the next thing you're going to have in your face is my blade," Kanda growled, letting himself be pushed slightly back by his father.

"Lavi," Tiedoll sighed. "That was not necessary."

"No, actually, I think it was very necessary. It brings me back to a point," he said. If nothing else, he still had Kanda's attention squarely on him, which was where he needed it to be. If it came about by taunting the man into hitting him once or twice, then so be it. He still got what he wanted out of it. "Yuu's temper is a real problem, and it just might get more people killed before this entire thing with Apollo is through, and not the ones he wants to have die."

Kanda cocked an eyebrow at him, still not moving from the spot. Tiedoll sighed again and rubbed his forehead.

"If they die, it's not my fault. Their lives depend on their own skill and cooperation. What happened yesterday was a mistake and they know it, just as they know that the punishment I gave them was just. Do not stick your nose into things you don't understand, G _aijin*_."

"Kanda," Tiedoll silenced him before he could say more.

With a scoff, the younger man turned around and walked away, leaving the two men in the hall.

"I don't know exactly what you wanted to achieve here, but I guess it didn't work," the old assassin spoke, unhappily shaking his head. "Do you think he leads his men by making them fear him?"

"However he's leading his men, he's not as effective a leader as he could be. If he would only stop to realize why that is, it would actually be a very easy fix. He paused to massage his jaw, which was still aching from Kanda's blow. "Fear and respect can exist side-by-side quite easily, whether he intends to inspire either one or not, just the same as he's a leader whether he wants the role or doesn't. I didn't say anything that didn't need to be said, but whether he's willing to listen and consider other methods than the ones he already tries, that's another matter entirely."

Tiedoll smiled, putting his hand on Lavi's shoulder in a friendly, almost father-like manner. "It seems to me like you only saw him while he's at his worst. Try joining a few missions and you'll see what I mean. Until then, try not to get killed please. Would be a shame..." He trailed off and headed to the main hall.

"Not so sure he wants to show me any other side of him," Lavi muttered.

Okay, so sure, he'd done more than a little of trying to piss the man off, entirely on purpose, but even when he was minding his own business or trying to be nice, the guy had a problem with him, for whatever reason. He still had the scratch on his face from yesterday's far-too-serious sparring match to speak of it, and even Allen had said something about it to him.

Kanda just seemed to have a special kind of loathing for him in general.

It didn't really matter, though. The man was allowed to have his opinions, even if they were negative, and trying to talk the man out of it would be a pointless endeavor.

* * *

Another week passed, much in the same fashion.

Allen stayed at Kanda's house, writing down and sorting reports the assassins brought him. Lavi snuck in to bring him some food every day, shared various news and rumours he gathered from the city, or told him a story and then left to do his own jobs. Kanda always came back late, occasionally having a fit, muttering about damn rabbits, and Allen always calmed him down by luring him into his bed where they spent a glorious rest of the night that left the white-haired male with a pleasantly aching back and Kanda with soothed nerves and good mood.

After said week, Allen even managed to talk his temperamental partner into letting him move back into the Galata Den and everything would have been perfect if it wasn't for the mess that Kanda and Lavi made of the place after their regular scuffles.

"You two idiots are UNBELIEVABLE!" Allen raged as he gestured around the place to the various slashes and dents on the walls. The last drop was the very evident decline of furniture. "I am gone for something over a week and you two manage to demolish the whole place to the point where I hardly recognize it anymore!"

Kanda and Lavi endured the scolding like two guilty children, shuffling on the spot in embarrasment. As if it wasn't enough, Allen made a point to do it in front of the rest of the assassins, who sat around the hall, trying to contain their giggles.

"If I see you two fight ever again, here or elsewhere, I am going to lock you up in a room and leave you there until you learn to cooperate and coexist like normal people do!"

"I give it an hour," Lavi piped, trying to look innocent as he deliberately let his gaze wander elsewhere and instead only coming across as more guilty. "-before he tries to claw his way out of that room like a ground squirrel in a fox den." He, however, would probably cope quite easily with being locked in a room with Kanda, so long as the guy didn't try to kill him. Which was a possibility but he was just going to pretend for the moment that it wasn't.

"Silence!" Allen raged, "I've had enough of this!" He then spun on his heel and marched off into Kanda's room, leaving the two men downstairs. As soon as he was out of sight, Kanda let out the breath he was holding and relaxed.

"Well that was smooth," he commented, dragging a hand over his face.

"Looks like someone's not getting any tonight," one of the assassins spoke up, making the entire hall burst out in laughter when Kanda groaned and collapsed on the nearby pillows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Gaijin is basically the Japanese word for "Foreigner", but in the spiteful context that Kanda uses it here, it's also the same as implying that Lavi is an unwelcomed outsider as an insult.


	26. Melted Ice

So technically Allen had said they couldn't _fight_. Lavi, however, didn't really consider it much of a conflict. It was really more of a game and he would defend to his last breath any time he was confronted that he was just being _playful_ and it wasn't his fault that Kanda had no sense of fun.

Some days that excuse worked better than others, but Lavi had no trouble exploiting it to tease and had way too much fun watching Kanda get helplessly frustrated at the fact that if he turned the banter violent, Allen would have _both_ their hides.

The fact that he was a little more subdued about said teasing when Allen was within sight or ear-shot so as not to incur the white-haired man's wrath also helped, although he really wasn't as afraid of Allen following through on his "I'll lock you both up together" threat as Kanda obviously was, since the man saw him as bad enough even when he had the option of walking away.

Allen got especially pissed at him that morning though, after Kanda stormed off again to spend the entire day somewhere where he wouldn't have to deal with the redheaded annoyance, so he figured it was only fair and _smart_ that he try to do something enjoyable with the evening that wouldn't just involve him and Allen. Besides, Allen was probably way too peeved at him still to accept him trying to make amends one-on-one. He would have to try other tactics.

And his storytelling theatrics always did the trick sooner or later.

" _Ahem_ ," he cleared his throat loudly as he stood, drawing more attention than just Allen's, who was trying - he might note - to at least _pretend_ like he was ignoring Lavi. He put on his best parody voice. "Ladies! Gentlemen! For this late evening's dinner, we have a special treat for you to~night!"

At this point he had everyone's attention.

"Live to you now, the Theatre of Bookman proudly presents to read to you various tales of daring adventure and chivalrous r-r-r- _romance_!" he overplayed, rolling the 'r' of the last word with far more dramatization than was necessary, bowing his head like that of a stage actor so far it almost touched the floor, before popping back up to open a book and start reading.

Allen tried not to laugh. He tried very hard. But when Lavi started deliberately making an idiot out of himself he just couldn't help but to let his mouth stretch into a smile. It was one of his talents - to entertain - and Allen wondered just how much money could the man have made if he had chosen to be an entertainer or an actor instead of a Bookman.

He was still cross with him, of course, so he made sure he sat with his back turned to the redhead when he started performing. He even had to bite his lips to keep himself from laughing out loud when the narration got into the best parts and he was sure Lavi was keeping an eye on him as he spoke.

He was still angry, he was. He really was. But maybe not so much anymore. Damn that ginger and his silver tongue.

When Kanda entered with few of his men, clearly after a mission, going by the tired look the man sported on his face, Allen wasn't sure whether to be happy or not. After all, he was cross with the swordsman as well. But at least Kanda didn't prod him too much after their arguments. They both just waited it out and talked about everything after they both calmed down - which many found hard to believe due to the raven-head's violent nature.

Allen saw his partner scan the room and scowl distastefully when he spied Lavi but the grimace was more or less gone when his eyes found him in the crowd.

"Hey," Kanda greeted kind of awkwardly, much to Allen's surprise. It seems that his scolding was good for at least one thing.

"Hello, how was the night?"

"Tedious," the man replied, taking a seat next to him. "And it is progressively getting worse," he added turning his attention to the redhead and his antics. He didn't say more, but whether it was because he was tired or because the man didn't want to anger him, Allen didn't know.

Lavi of course noticed the entrance of the black-haired assassin as well, but he didn't pause in his dinnertime performance. Not quite yet, at least. He had some good energy going and was intent on playing it out to its fullest before he called it quits, and he didn't want to inspire any disappointment in his captive audience.

He continued on his tirade for a while, getting more than a few good rounds of laughter from the men that were listening or watching while they dined and drank, filling the room with a pleasant chorus that had the redhead genuinely beaming under the attention as he was putting on his errs for entertainment.

At some point he caught Kanda's disapproving eye, but for the moment, ignored it. Seemed like it would take more than putting on a fun show to improve the attitude of _that_ gloomy mug, but at the very least, it seemed like he had basically everyone else wrapped around his finger with his boisterous shenanigans.

Once he finally managed to reach the end of the story, he offered up an overly zealous bow of conclusion that was met with various applause and happy faces.

Rest of the den aside, he still had one and a half more occupants within the building to win over. That would put him at least solidly in Check, but winning Check-mate would be no walk in the park.

It was just after storing away the book he had been using to script his performance and getting himself his own dinner and drink that he joined the other two, sitting across with a very satisfied smile on his face that wasn't mutual, especially from Kanda.

"Everyone else is having a great time, yet you're still over here moping as always~" he teased, taking a seat on one of the pillows now that he'd thoroughly entertained the entire den. 'Everyone', of course, included Allen. He hadn't failed to notice how the other man had been trying to hide his amusement, but he left this part of his statement up to interpretation.

Allen shot him a half-hearted warning look before shaking his head. "Play nice boys," he said calmly, but Lavi could still hear the edgy tone.

"I'm always nice," Kanda murmured sulkily, lying down so that his head rested next to Allen's thigh. It made the assassin bite back another smile. Kanda could sometimes be like a big, grumpy cat that tries to win back its master's affections by timid purrs and gentle bites. Sneaky bastard.

Lavi couldn't help but snort suppressed laughter at Kanda's self-defending words, poorly trying to hide a contradicting smile in his palm as he propped his head up with one hand. If he had anything to say to that, he knew better than to speak it in front of Allen, at least for right now.

"Will there be a continuation, maestro?" Allen asked trying to get distract himself from Kanda's not-so-subtle advances.

"Nah, not tonight, but maybe another day. I think I'm burnt out. Pretty sure everyone who is going to get a kick out of it already has, anyway. The other guys seem to be in good spirits now, though."

True enough, the hall was soon filled with music and songs, the men taking the entertainment into their own hands.

Allen hummed silently to himself as they ate and drank, and gradually forgot that he was supposed to be angry at both Kanda and Lavi. The redhead lured him into a friendly chat about this and that while Kanda snuck his head onto his thigh and napped. It seemed like the swordsman was too tired to care about the amused stares and chuckles of his fellow men.

That is, until one of them dared to coo over him to which Kanda promptly replied with a threat and an angered growl.

Allen smirked and moved to sit against the wall where Kanda took refuge so he could glare at all his men at once, sinking into the pillow.

"You're like a child," Allen commented, closing his eyes. He could swear he heard the man repeat the sentence back but he no longer paid any attention to him. How could he, when his belly was full and the taste of wine tingled in his fingers?

"Aw look, mamma is asleep!" someone said, making the other men laugh.

"I will cut your throat," Kanda threatened again, making the assassins laugh once more.

"That would probably require you to move from your cuddly-wuddlies, and you don't look like you're doing that anytime soon," Lavi chuckled, smiling widely as he took a sip of his drink and earned himself a dark glower that only further lent to his own amusement. "Lighten up, Yuu. There's nothing wrong with having a bit of fun now and again. Difficult concept for you to grasp, I know, but you could probably do it too if you tried."

"You know you are within reach, rabbit," Kanda said, but his voice didn't hold much heat. He sighed then and let his shoulder slump. "I'm too tired to kill you anyway. I had enough of it for today," he admitted, his eyes straying towards the sleeping Allen.

He looked as if he wanted to say something but by the looks of it, and the sound of his teeth grinding, he hesitated. It was not everyday one could witness Kanda Yuu holding his tongue.

"I need your advice," he finally spoke, stubbornly staring ahead.

"Oh?" Lavi's brows rose slightly, looking the part of surprised. Whether it was merely an act or he was legitimately taken aback by this admission, it was impossible to tell. "Well I can't guarantee that it'll be what you want to hear, or that it'll help, whatever it is you want from me, but I'm open to offer up the best I can, at any rate," he stated neutrally, single eye fixed on the man. "So what is it, exactly?"

Kanda sighed again and rubbed the back of his neck. "There's a few missions we meant to do til the end of the month but it requires a little bit of coordination and I find myself too tired to think as of late." He huffed and the dark circles under his eyes suddenly became even more visible. "My men could use some rest as well, so if you're interested in some extra payment, let me or Tiedoll know."

"Payment?" Lavi's brow almost reached his hairline before he laughed. "It's not like I'm a mercenary or something. You don't have to _pay_ me and I don't expect you to. I mean, not unless you really insist wanting to pay me, out of the goodness of your heart or some such thing, but otherwise, consider it on-the-house. I'd be happy to help." He chuckled under his breath in amusement and paused for another sip of his drink. "Anyway, rest in and of itself is good, but up-keeping morale will definitely help as well. Seems like your guys have been long overdue, and I imagine that goes for you as well, even if you won't admit to it very openly."

Kanda shrugged. "Do as you wish, but we all split money from the raids and such. There's always a little bit of coins on the guards as well." He sighed again and rubbed his eyes. His eyelids were really getting heavy. "They have been working every day and night since I came. They are tired and it makes them distracted. I'm taking a new team next week so my men can have some time to rest." Kanda glanced at Allen in silence.

"That's a good idea," Lavi acknowledged. "Though you should probably consider taking some time off too, even if it's just a day or two. Even if you get fresh guys, it will only do so much good if you run yourself too ragged to be effective as a leader. Even if you're physically capable of making yourself work, you'll be mentally fatigued and more prone to having a temper, which is usually pretty short on a normal standard, I notice," he advised carefully, touching back into territory that he had tried bringing up multiple times before and failed on account that Kanda usually grew fed up and stormed off before they could get anywhere productive.

Maybe he'd actually listen this time since he was too tired to either go on the attack or run away from the subject.

"And if you're running on a short fuse and prone to hostility towards your guys, that's going to affect everyone's performance negatively no matter how hard everyone tries to work, including you, whether that's your intention or not. Hence the maintaining good morale as I already mentioned."

Kanda scoffed and it was probably the first time his smile did not hold an arrogant gleam. "What is this? Free counseling? I can assure you that neither me or my men are affected by _hostility_ , I can assure you." He said as he scanned the room. "They know me and they know the boundaries they cannot overstep." His face was serious as he spoke but when his eyes fell on Allen, the smirk was in place again. "Keep your advices, little brat. You might be smart but you still have a lot to learn."

"Not true," Lavi shook his head. "Whether you admit it or not, it has a negative affect. Tolerance is not the same as being unaffected. Human nature is a constant, and your men are each individual human beings before they are assassins, prone to all the same basic needs, instincts, and mistakes as any other, and you aren't any different. Don't misunderstand my reasons for telling you this though. It isn't about 'free counseling', as you call it. It's as much a part of successful war tactics as is how readily you arm the men under you with sword skills or where you place battlements."

He stretched back slightly and shrugged noncommittally, not looking as though he cared either way.

"You wanted my advice, and I gave it. I did say it might not be what you wanted to hear."

"You sure talk a lot." Kanda grumbled and it was evident that his patience with the redhead was wearing thin. "Shouldn´t you be in bed?" He remarked, rolling his eyes.

Lavi only shrugged again. Couldn't say he didn't try.

"Aren't you a little too young to be dictating I should have a bed-time?" Honestly, the arrogance on this guy sometimes! The Panda was the only one who could get away with treating him like a child, but the redhead was pretty sure he ranked amongst oldest geezers on the planet, so _everyone_ was a child by comparison.

Kanda frowned at him, but it was not quite the same as his usual frown. "Young?" He repeated with mild bewilderment. "What do you mean?"

"What do you mean, _'what do you mean'_? You're like... what? Twenty-something-or-other?" He propped his chin on palm and side-glanced at the other man. "I'm two years short of thirty, ain't no way you're that much older than me, if you even are at all."

Kanda gaped at him for a short while before breathing out something between a laugh and a thoughtful hum. Should he take that as a compliment or an insult?

"I'm turning thirty-seven in the summer."

Lavi's hand dropped away from his chin so fast it smacked the table, the redhead staring at him for a long moment in dumbfounded silence, looking as though he was trying to discern if that was a lie or not.

"You're totally screwing with, aren't you?" he finally deadpanned.

Kanda arched an unimpressed eyebrow at him and shook his head. "Did you think the men here would let a child command them? I thought you're smarter than that."

"Age has little to do with willingness to follow a person if they're capable enough," Lavi pointed out, brows still raised.

Thirty-six? Christ. The years had sure been gentle on his features, especially considering what sort of high-stress profession the man had.

The redhead didn't imagine he would look anywhere near that young in another eight years no matter how well he took care of himself, a thought which admittedly sparked a small pang of envy.

Suddenly Kanda's advanced skills made a lot more sense in retrospect, too.

He finally looked away to rub his face wearily, as if just now coming to terms with the fact that Kanda was entirely honest about his age, muttering something under his breath that might have been a curse.

"Crap, that's a big age gap. If I didn't know Allen 'well as I do, I wouldn't of been able to believe how you'd be his first choice."

"You're right," the swordsman started, shrugging. "Age is not that important. It's the experience that counts. The sprout never complained." Something dangerously close to a fond smile appeared on his face and he froze then, and cleared his throat awkwardly. "I mean in the fighting..."

Lavi raised a brow, a smirk playing across his lips.

"Well you're definitely skilled with a sword, I'll give you that..." His smirk twitched wider for a moment at the double-edged potential behind those words. "-but that wasn't really what I meant. His interests aren't drawn by that at all."

Kanda 'tsk'ed unhappily. This isn't exactly where he wanted to go with the talk.

"Just let's not go there," he warned, already hating the rabbit's shit-eating grin. So immature. "As far as I know, his interests are drawn to many things. It's really hard to tell." Lavi wasn't the only one wondering how he and Allen ended up together.

There were times when Kanda couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard he tried. At those times he found himself wondering about many things as he stared at the relaxed features of his young bed-partner. How indeed did they end up together? It is not as if he would start complaining. Not at all. But he wondered what drew Allen to him.

He was aware that his charms and temper weren't really something he could boast about.

"It is really funny how people change," he glanced at Lavi as he played with a stray strand of Allen's white hair.

"Everyone has many interests that catch their eye," Lavi hummed. "-but most of those interests are only worth a glance, no matter what they are or who they belong to. It's called infatuation, and it passes eventually and makes the object of attention lose appeal. Unless, of course, they find something that holds deeper meaning to them to cling to. I heard that the first time you two met, you tried to kill him under hire, but for some reason you didn't. I don't know much beyond that, but what I do know is that he found what he wanted in you, and somehow things worked out."

Kanda shook his head, regarding Lavi with somewhat annoyed look.

"Do you do this every time you talk to someone? This reciting bullshit? It is as if listening to a walking book."

"Occupational hazard, I guess," Lavi laughed, scratching the side of his face idly. "If you think my mouth is loud, you should hear what goes on up here," he tapped the side of his head. "Gramps-... that is, the Bookman that raised me, taught me how to turn my mind on. Never really taught me how to turn it _off_ though."

Kanda sighed. "Some things can't be explained." He paused, glancing into the distance as if he saw there the past. "I remember the first time we had met. Our fist fight ended with me giving him the scar in his gut which he returned by nearly cutting my arm off. I can't say I didn't deserve it," he shrugged, "I was the one who killed one of his students back then. I guess it was his reaction that made me doubt the words of my superiors."

He fell silent then, remembering how heartbroken Allen's cries were when he found the corpse.

"He was pretty vicious back then. He hated me so much, but I guess the feeling was quite mutual."

Lavi hummed idly at Kanda's recollections of how he and Allen had first started out with each other. No doubt it had taken years for them to really be able to stand each other, much less be at ease the way they were now. Even more than that, really.

"You're right, it is kind of funny, in an almost sardonic sense, how time and experience together can have such a heavy effect of change." He paused for a sip of wine, his single eye lingering over Allen for a wistful flicker of a second. "But I guess that's the reward of living. Or a curse, depending on how you look at it." He paused again to chuckle, stopping himself before he could start treading too deeply into forbidden sentiments. "Sorry, I really must be the worst company for someone like you, talkative as I am."

"You really are," Kanda huffed, but his voice was mild. "Think about what I said earlier... the missions I mean. And don't think of it as a charity. The spoils split evenly between everyone."

"I'm so proud of you," a voice suddenly interrupted and the two men shared a look. "See," Allen said, smiling as he squinted at the two, "you're able to be nice to each other after all."

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Kanda asked with a roll of his eye as Allen shoved his arm away so he could make himself comfortable on his chest.

"The lack of your temper woke me up," he teased as he wiggled into a more comfortable position.

"Get a room!" someone shouted and Kanda promptly answered with a nasty frown.

"Also, I might join a mission or two. I am pretty bored just lying around doing nothing..."

"Hey, if anyone here's mean, it ain't me. If I wanted to be mean, I could think of much better ways to do it... Like set up another introduction with Mr. Mousy. You of all people should know that!" Lavi laughed. After all, he could be a rather notorious prankster once he set it in his mind. Those of which Allen had been on the receiving end of more times than probably anyone would like. "And anyway, just don't strain yourself too much, with those wounds o' yours and all."

"You put that mouse anywhere near me again, I will slap you so hard..." Allen threatened, his sleep completely forgotten. "And anyway, with you two fussing over me like two mother hens - I'm not complaining, by the way - there is no way anything could happen. And it's only a few missions. I am bored out of my mind already."

"I'm not _fussing_ ," Lavi defended, stretching out on his back comfortably. "I mean it ain't as if I'm saying not to go on a mission, just sayin' be careful is all, because you tend to be reckless-and-a-half even on a good day."

"I am not," Allen whine indignantly. "It's a healthy dose of risk."

He did not see the sour look Kanda gave him. He really seemed like he disagrees as well, but he stayed silent. Mostly.

"I'll decide what missions you'll take part in," he warned, still frowning. "No protests," he added pointedly, looking away when Allen whipped around to voice his objections.

"Sorry, 'sprout," Lavi chuckled, yawning. "-but looks like you've been unanimously out-voted!"


	27. The Cruel and the Weak

There weren't too many arguments about Allen joining their missions. Just an _occasional_ evening spat between him and Kanda whose temper grew shorter and shorter with every Allen´s insisting of joining a mission. Lavi chose to stay out of their little lover disputes and observe - which was at times better than drama plays in Roma.

After the sixth time Kanda forbade Allen to leave the den, which made the white-haired assassin throw his hands in the air and storm out of the room. Lavi, for the first time, felt a little bit sorry for the swordsman. He tried really hard (in his own a little bit harsh way) to protect his stubborn partner, who took it as ´a violation of his freedom´.

Eventually however, Kanda agreed to let Allen go to the blacksmith to make an order for several sets of throwing daggers since Kanda and many others ran out of them a few days ago. Lavi also noted that the term ´regular armor checks and weapon repairs´ were quite foreign to the assassins and proceeded to give an earful to Kanda who barely resisted to keep himself from throwing another tantrum about "rabbits who just can't shut up".

But at least Allen was happy and practically glowing when he took Kanda's order hastily scribbled on a piece of paper.

"I'll be fine," Allen announced in a purr as he slid between Kanda and the table with the map of Constantinople which the man was brooding over, giving him a very dirty - and not to mention improper - kiss, which Kanda gladly accepted.

"You'll return right away!" the swordsman warned with a stern voice but Allen knew that he was getting pretty distracted as he squeezed his thighs and sat him on the top of the table. "My men will tell me if you don't..."

Allen effectively shut him up with another kiss and laid his back on the table dragging Kanda with him. "You're ruining your plans."

"My plans changed..." Kanda growled, accidentally pushing the ink off the table. He couldn't, however, care less.

It was a stifled, deliberate cough against a loose fist that interrupted them.

"Alright, love-birds, you can either find a room or we can actually get today's business done first," Lavi hummed in somewhat of a tease, a small smirk barely twitching at his lips. "Then you can have your fun later."

They both froze at the sudden interruption and Kanda slowly drew himself to his full height as Allen unlinked his legs behind the man's back.

"Hey Lavi," Allen was first to react since the swordsman was busy trying to look professional and hide his reddened cheeks. "Would you believe that we were just talking about the, uh, business right now? I was just asking Kanda what else to get from the blacksmith." He chuckled awkwardly, hopping down from the table and righting his rumpled clothes.

The redhead might have been getting a little too much entertainment out of their sudden awkwardness, but he simply smiled unaffected, as if he hadn't noticed their position a moment ago.

"Good. We can leave then whenever you're ready. No huge rush."

"You're coming too?" Allen asked and the disappointment in his voice was a little bit too obvious. "Shame on you," he frowned at Kanda who returned it with a stern look.

"You think I would let you go alone? In your dreams."

Lavi smirked at their banter, turning for the door.

"Well, since Yuu's gonna be tagging along too, I guess we can get a move on right away and he can tell the smithy what he wants himself, yeah?"

"So that's why you stayed in bed so long this morning! You actually took a day off!" He slapped Kanda´s shoulder. "Traitors, both of you!"

"What?" Lavi squawked, glancing over his shoulder as he walked. "Why am I a traitor?" He fake-sniffled, easily playing overdramatic. "And after all the breakfasts I've brought you, too! This is the thanks I get!"

"Shut it!" Allen snapped sulkily as he walked out of the room.

Kanda smirked and strapped his sword to his hip, gesturing Lavi to follow. "What did I tell you about the knocking?" he asked as he cocked an eyebrow at the man.

"Point taken," Lavi laughed sheepishly, scratching the side of his face. Though the two had been up already and they'd pre-set the plans to go to the blacksmith so he hadn't thought much of it. Apparently he was wrong to assume any time of day might be safe.

Heading out of the den, they made their way to the ferry to cross the Bosphorus and head toward the Constantine district. The open streets and air were noticeably good for Allen after the man had been cooped up so long and it seemed like what bad mood he'd gained was quickly lost again as they made their way through the city.

Lavi gave both he and Kanda a few mild teases as they went, but nothing overtly over-the-top or temper-inducing, and he couldn't help but think that the white-haired man seemed slightly eager to reach their destination.

"You sure seem happy to be going where we're goin'," he observed idly.

"Of course I'm happy!" Allen replied as he sniffed the fresh air. "I haven't been anywhere properly for weeks! And I'm going to see Faulklin!"

"Who the fuck is Faulklin?" Kanda asked with more heat in his voice than necessary. Allen only rolled his eyes and sighed. Kanda glared at him first and then at Lavi. The look clearly said he wanted explanations.

"That's the blacksmith's kid apprentice," Lavi offered up, casually folding his arms behind his head as they walked. "Mousy little brunette boy. He was actually a pretty big help with finding some information out while you were away in god only knows where." He chuckled a moment, then added, "Kinda makes you look like a social butterfly by comparison though, albeit lacking the temper."

"Very funny," Kanda answered dryly but sat back and relaxed.

"It has been so long. I wonder how he's doing." Allen's voice sounded a bit worried but that was understandable. The blacksmith was less than pleasant and Allen felt a little bit guilty that he hadn't checked on the boy sooner.

"Well I imagine we'll find out soon enough," Lavi mused, his single eye wandering the street as they went and smile fading distractedly. "Assuming he doesn't just try and disappear into the back like a timid bunny or something."

Something was beginning to nag at him, miniscule discrepancies that most might never notice, especially in a couple of the people that they passed.

He picked up on some hushed talking, though he couldn't catch all the words, the kind of urgent yet uninvolved whispers of rumor-spreading. The sort of look in the eyes of seeing something shocking, and skittish glances at other people as though suspicious that any one of the others out walking might be some sort of danger. And the only slightly too fast pace of walking.

There was a contagious, jittery tension in the air that was becoming increasingly difficult to miss, putting the redhead's guard up.

"You guys feel that too?"

Allen's worried glance and Kanda's hand on his sword was an answer enough. They sped up, pushing the people out of their way until they reached the smithy.

Lavi jogged along the street, watching carefully for any signs of a threat to be worried about, but nothing immediately leapt out at him that might be a danger.

When they reached the blacksmith's place, the shop window was still closed up and there were people uncertainly milling about outside the open doorway of the shop, traces of blood on the door before they even entered. A couple of Byzantine soldiers milled outside, keeping the growing crowd back and questioning for witnesses.

One of them moved to intercept the trio at first, but seemed to recognize Allen and Kanda by their clothes and blades, thinking better of getting in their way and moving aside. Predictably enough, Allen noticeably picked up the pace to be the first one there, and inside, there was more blood that Lavi was careful to avoid stepping in, knowing far too well how it could be even slicker than ice, and a body splayed on the floor. It was far too large to be the undersized kid, so he immediately guessed, not inaccurately so, that it was that of the blacksmith himself.

"What in the hell-" Allen gasped as he fell to his knees and carefully pressed his fingers to the man's neck. He knew it was too late, going by the amount of blood around, but he did it anyway. He looked up at Lavi and the question he wanted to ask was visible in his eyes.

Lavi didn't immediately offer up an answer, eye surveying the room as the copper scent of death filled his nose. The man hadn't just been killed, but mutilated, many of his identifying features lost beneath blood and deep punctures.

His eye traveled further, the redhead carefully stepping around the room. Various items were scattered, knocked down or aside. Smaller splotches of blood dotted the room here or there. He looked carefully to make sure there was no one anywhere in hiding, especially an enemy, and as he did so he also became aware of something else.

They were short one smaller corpse.

"He isn't here," he told Allen finally, not sure what that meant at this point.

Kanda glared around the place, his hand squeezing the handle of his sword. "What happened?" he barked at one of the soldiers who was brave enough to get closer to him.

"We're not sure yet," the soldier stated, glancing at the crowd. "Someone reported screaming. Another said there was a kid that burst out of here with blood on him like the devil himself was chasing him and then they found the inside of the place like this already."

Allen let out a shaky breath. "He's still alive!" he then stood up, grasping Lavi's arms, his eyes burning with sudden anger. "It was _him_! It was him, Lavi!" he repeated, looking around wildly. "Kanda!"

The swordsman's frown deepened. "I know." He caught Allen by his arm when he tried to push past him and lead him outside of the smithy. "Don't be reckless!" he warned.

"It was him! He might be close, we have to-"

"You're still unable to fight, so calm down." The restrain in Kanda's voice was clear. "Which way did the boy go?" he asked the guard again, taking Allen's hand in his own to keep him in place.

The guard shifted uncertainly under the question, shaking his head helplessly.

"I'm... not really sure."

Lavi was silent, glad to have Kanda there as well to at least try and keep Allen in check. Telling Allen to keep a level head was entirely useless until they found out where Faulklin went, and hopefully that he was still alive.

He brushed past them and surveyed the blood on the door, then further onto the street, kneeling where there was a spot of red, his expression one of deep concentration. After a moment it trailed to the side, finding another spot further.

"This way," he directed, taking the lead ahead of them and keeping his eye out for more signs of where the kid could have gone.

Allen ran after him, leaving Kanda shake his head and whisper something to the guard before doing the same.

It was clear that the white-haired man was having difficulties following after a while but Kanda and Lavi only shared a look, silently deciding to keep their mouths shut for now.

"This takes too long!" Allen cursed and changed his course to climb onto the nearest roof, ignoring Kanda's agitated yell. After all, tracking is a lot easier with the eyes of an eagle.

"Rabbit!" The swordsman called and pointed at the roof.

Lavi nodded to show he understood, but he didn't follow to the roof. There was no telling they would be able to find anything that way, but with them searching both above and below, they might have better luck anyway.

He kept scouring for traces of more blood spots or other signs of where Faulklin could have gone from the ground, the trail leading through and into back alleys.

When the trail came to an end, it was at a larger spot just beside a wagon of hay, a larger spot on the ground going underneath it. He crouched down and, sure enough, underneath it pressed up to the corner of the wall the wagon flanked was the boy, blood coating his face and side, but the faintest trace of a whimpering breath promised he wasn't dead.

He raised his fingers to his lips and whistled shrilly before calling out, "Allen! Yuu! Here!"

Kanda's feet hit the ground behind Lavi with an ominous sound. "What did I say about the name calling?!" he growled as he straightened himself. Allen landing was more quiet but the grace was lacking since he stumbled pretty heavily, only barely catching himself on Kanda's outstretched hand.

Together they moved the wagon aside and Allen gasped when he spotted the boy, kneeling next to him and carefully touching his cheek."Faulklin!"

"Really? You're gonna choose now to take issue?" Lavi raised a brow, before glancing back to Allen and Faulklin, just in time for the kid to withdraw away from the touch and lash out instinctively with the deadly glint of a thin knife in his hand that he'd previously been clutching near his chest, screeching _"Hold deg una!"_

The redhead cursed and yanked Allen back by the collar out of the path of the blade and the kid flattened himself further into the corner, his eyes too covered in blood to see and breath quick with terror.

Allen was too surprised to react right away but Kanda was there to do it in his stead. He drew his sword in a blink of an eye, stepping forward with an unforgiving frown.

"No! Stop!" Allen held up his arm and seeing the hurt look in his partner's eyes was enough for Kanda to reconsider. Instead of pointing the sword right at the scared child, he stabbed the blade into the ground in front of Allen in a protective and slightly threatening manner and stood behind him, supporting the younger man's back with his legs.

Lavi's gaze shifted between Allen and Kanda for a moment before shifting his attention back to Faulklin.

"Easy, kid. We're not going to hurt ya," he tried to soothe, reaching out, but Faulklin immediately tensed like he was going to strike again when he felt Lavi's hand brush him and the redhead pulled his arm away immediately.

_"Ikke! Hold deg unna!"_

Lavi gnawed his lip for a moment in thought, searching his memory for the right words. "Faulklin, _det er greit. Det er dine venner,_ Allen _og_ Lavi _. Vi vil ikke skade deg. Forstå?_ "

" _Han prøvde å drepe meg..._ " the boy whimpered, trembling.

" _Du er trygg._ " Lavi's voice was a soft coo and he tried to reach out again, this time the boy not lashing out even as he carefully pried the small blade out of the kid's hands. " _Vi kommer til å hjelpe,_ okay?"

Faulklin only whimpered again pitifully but the fight had left him, the undersized teen's breathing labored. Lavi glanced back at Allen and Kanda now.

"He's lost a lot of blood and he's in shock. We have to get him to where I can treat these wounds as quickly as possible, otherwise he won't last much longer."

"I know a place," Kanda said sternly as he headed eastward, dragging Allen behind him. He waited only long enough for Lavi to gather the child in his arms before pushing his way through the streets. When arrived at the destination, he didn't even bother knocking, he just slammed his foot against the door and kicked it open.

"My old man's house," he clarified when Allen shot him a disapproving look. "He doesn't go here."

Lavi glanced around the space, but didn't comment, finding an adequate spot to set the boy down and snapping this carry-bag off, rummaging for a few basic supplies he carried with him and producing some bandages, thread and needle.

"Alright, I'm going to need a few things. Allen, get me some sterile water, clean rags, and a mortar and pestle if you have one here. Kanda, since you're in better shape to run quickly, I'm gonna need you to run and get me some medicinal herbs," he stated, closing his eye for a moment as he tried to recall everything he would need, then jotting down a hasty list. "I'm going to need Yarrow leaves for the bleeding and Opium Poppy for the pain. Goldenrod, fresh Garlic, and Lamb's Ears should be easy to get. Houseleek, Snapdragon, or Pot Marigold are interchangeable, I only need one of the three, so whichever one of those you can get is fine. It would be ideal if you could also get English Lavender Oil, but if you can't find it off a doctor or merchant, then ask for German Chamomile instead. The amount I need of each is written right here." He paused and held up the scribbled list for him to take. "Just... try to be quick about it."

Kanda took the note with visible distaste and reluctance but when Allen urged him to go, he left.

Allen went though every cabinet in the small house and piled up everything Lavi requested around the man and stood on the other side of the boy, carefully wiping the sweat off his brow. Lavi went about cleaning the larger wound to the boy's side first, washing away the blood so that he could get a better look at it. It was nothing to sniff at, somewhat deep and having punctured part of his intestines, but he was confident he could stitch it up.

Kanda returned in record time, tossing the bag with the herbs at the redhead and retreated to the corner behind Allen.

"Thank you," Lavi offered up briskly, pressing a cloth against Faulklin's side and directing Allen to keep pressure on it while he moved on to tend to his face and figure out the damage there. As he was washing the blood away, he was also discovering that the redness there wasn't just blood, but a wide wound across the left side of his face over one eye, the kid whimpering under gentle dabs and weakly trying to pull his hands away.

The wound itself was bad, but the eye was in-tact and still working. The other side, despite that the surrounding flesh of his eye was less marred however, was another story entirely. What remained of it was mutilated beyond repair by a blade.

"He's not going to be seeing out of that side anymore," he reported, too focused on the actual treatment to sound sympathetic as he prepared the herbs for the wounds, mixing a poultice and applying it before he wrapped the wounds. "And the other side is burned pretty badly. It's going to leave a permanent scar."

Allen bit his lip and kept staring at the boy's torso. "Poor boy," he said silently and felt Kanda's hand on his shoulder. "Why does he keep picking on the weak?" Both men understood who he meant. "My misfortune keeps spreading..."

"Shut up," Kanda suddenly spoke and the heat in his voice made Allen jump. "Cut the bullshit with your curses and misfortune. They worked for the Brotherhood. They knew the risks."

Lavi chose not to say anything, instead finishing with wrapping Faulklin's eyes and the wounds on his face before moving on to stitch the wound to the boy's side, which took some effort and time but he managed to close and wrap that wound as well.

Satisfied that he'd managed all he could, he straightened up and wiped his hands clean on one of the rags.

"I've done everything that I can for him. All that's left now is to let him rest and hope there'll be no need for a funeral come morning," he stated honestly, glancing between them a moment before moving to clean up. Faulklin was entirely unconscious by this point, pale and breathing only shallowly, but still alive, at least for the moment. Allen knelt down next to the boy and silently caressed his head.

Kanda let him go and walked to Lavi, catching him by the arm and dragging him a little bit further away. "Keep him inside," he said quietly, giving the redhead a stern look.

Lavi blinked at Kanda in question, almost asking which one he meant, but it wasn't hard to guess. Especially considering one was unconscious, never mind the part about how Kanda probably didn't personally care much for the blacksmith's apprentice either way.

"I take that to mean you're not sticking around," he predicted near-silently.

"No. There might be a chance that bastard is still around. I´m going hunting. So keep him here and God protect you if you let him follow him. Tie him up if you must."

Lavi nodded to show he understood. Even without Kanda's words, he knew Allen well enough not to let him go charging off at a time like this, especially when he had it in his mind that someone else could get hurt or killed.

"He won't leave this building," he promised.

"Where's he going?" Allen asked urgently when he heard the door close. "Kanda, wait!" he shouted and ran towards the exit.

"Nope!" Lavi declared, grabbing Allen by the waist and twirling him around the opposite way and marching him back away from the door. "Sorry 'sprout. You're staying put. Yuu just needs to check on something."

"But Lavi!" Allen protested, trying to wiggle himself out of the bookman's grasp. "He can't go alone!" He twisted around to face the man. "I know what he's about to do! It's too dangerous! Please, let me go! I want to go with him!"

"Yuu is a grown man with a well-earned reputation. He can take care of himself just fine," Lavi advised, not relinquishing and instead finding a spot to sit down against the wall abruptly, holding Allen in his lap so it'd be harder for him to struggle free.

"Besides, your wounds are still noticeably slowing you down. If it does come out to a fight, you're more likely to be a liability right now than a help, sorry to say. I'm sure he knows that too, which is why he wants you to stay. Plus..." he paused and nodded towards the bed where Faulklin lay. "It might not be a good idea to leave him unprotected here right now."

Allen glanced at the unconscious boy and sighed. "He's going to be fine. You'll keep an eye on him," he said and tried to stand up but he felt Lavi's arms tighten around him. "Lavi," Allen frowned, "what are you doing?"

"I promised I wouldn't let you leave." It wasn't just that Kanda told him to, but since the man had, it gave him an excuse to keep Allen away from danger, at least for now, without delving too far into his own reasons. "So you're just going to have to deal with it for now until he gets back."

"Lavi!" Allen struggled, wiggling in the man's lap. "Let me go this instance! You - you..." He trailed off really at loss of words. How could he! Betray him like this! Apollo was in the area and he is forced to sit still. "Let me go or I'm going to hurt you!"

"Nope!" Lavi piped again, flopping onto his side and dragging Allen to the floor with him, arms locked like a vice, since it'd be harder for Allen to wriggle free. "If you have a problem with it, take it up with Yuu when he returns. He'll hurt me a Hell of a lot more if I let you go then you will if I don't." Smiling cheekily and nestling his head against the crook of Allen's neck, he added, " 'sides, I don't get nearly enough quality time along with my 'sprout these days."

"Lavi this is serious! Stop being an asshole and - stop iiit!" Allen squealed involuntarily as he felt Lavi's face tickle his neck. "If Kanda comes in and finds us like this he's going to chop your dick off." He paused, trying to wiggle out but still in vain. "If he's not going to do it, I _will_."

Lavi laughed unconcern. "Yuu said to keep you here even if it meant tying you up but I don't have any rope so this is what I'm doing instead, and that's exactly what I'll tell him if he comes back and asks what I think I'm doing. And you... you're too nice to castrate me even if you could reach me there right now."

He hummed contently and made himself cozy, not in any rush to comply any time soon.

"Of course the other option would be to knock you out but that'd hurt and I figure you'd like that even less."

Allen growled, still trying to free his hands. When he saw that Lavi is not going to comply and let him go anytime soon he changed his tactics. "Lavi," he murmured with a strained voice, taking a deep shaky breath. "Please, loosen your hands, it hurts!"

Lavi hummed, unconvinced, but he did loosen up, just a little.

"You sure you're hurtin' and not just trying to get me to drop my guard?"

Allen mentally yelled in victory when he felt Lavi loosen up a little bit which he quickly used to bend over and slam his head against the redhead's.

" _Fuck!_ " Lavi swore, reeling and a hand instinctively going to his throbbing nose.

Allen scrambled forwards immediately, going for the door. His escape however was hindered again as he felt Lavi grab his leg and drag him backwards.

"NO!" he yelled clawing the ground as the distance between him and the door grew again.

"Gonna have to try harder than-" Lavi began, just before the other rolled over and kneed him hard just below the ribs, the redhead hissing in pain. "Alright, that's it, you little-!" He pounced onto Allen's shoulders as the other man tried to get up, locking into a rolling tussle across the floor.

Allen let out a breathless wheeze when his back hit the ground and slammed his palm against Lavi's cheek. He was more or less fighting blindly since the pain suddenly returned but he tried to keep it hidden.

"Let me go! I will not sit idly while Kanda puts himself in danger! Please!"

"I said, no!" Lavi shot back, his words slightly slurred because of the palm pressed into the side of his face, prying the hand off to pin it. "Yuu doesn't want you goin' out there right now either!"

"If you don't let me, I will scream!"

And scream he did but the redhead still didn't let go. He was forced to stay in the room like a caged animal, spluttering curses and threats but all in vain since Lavi held his ground and didn't let go.

They both lost track of time and Allen didn't know whether he ran out of breath and power to struggle because it took too long or because of his weakened condition.

However, he figured out that a long time must have passed since the door to the house suddenly swung open, revealing a slightly agitated Kanda. When he saw what position the two were in, his face twisted in a frown.

"What's the meaning of this?!"

"He's molesting me!" Allen immediately called.

"What?" Lavi squawked, gaping.

Of all the-! And Allen had the nerve to call _him_ a traitor?!

"I was not, you dirty, rotten cheat!" he almost shouted, looking flustered as he sprung off, now that he didn't need to worry over keeping Allen from chasing Kanda out the door. "You don't get to deflect your unwillingness to stay put onto me like that! Nuh uh!" He turned his back and would have crossed his arms in a display of refusal if not for the fact he was rubbing his side, Allen having managed a few good hits on him. "I did what was asked and nothin' more! You deal with him." This part directed at Kanda. "He's _your_ problem now."

Kanda squinted at him and took a step further, tilting his head a little. "Oh really?"

He was too distracted glaring at Lavi to notice Allen march forward and plant his fist into his gut. Kanda doubled over but it was more because he was surprised than hurt.

"You're a liar, too! Dirty bastard!" Allen growled, putting his hands on his hips. "What have you been thinking? Going all alone like that and leaving me here?"

"Jee, sprout. You sure talk a lot," Kanda dismissed him as he straightened up and gave him an unperturbed look. "Calm down, we didn't find him."

"That is supposed to calm me down?!"

"Well getting riled about it right now certainly isn't going to help," Lavi pointed out, huffing. "There's a difference between productive anger and mania. Sorry to tell you, 'sprout, but you fall further into the latter at times like this. That's why it was better for you to stay. Only thing to do for now is play it by ear and bide our time for the right opportunity and information."

"Quiet, you! You two - aargh!" He threw his hands in the air and sat down, huffing. "I can't believe it," he grumbled.

"Brat." Kanda scoffed in amusement. "No trace after Apollo." He continued in a more serious tone. "Nobody saw anyone like him. My men are scouting the city but we still got nothing. That scoundrel sure knows how to hide."

"Nothing that can be done for it at the moment," Lavi shrugged, taking a seat against the wall and blowing out a breath. "He can't hide forever, though."


	28. Moths to the Flame

Another week passed and Allen thankfully cooled down. Kanda and Lavi spent hours upon hours studying various maps of the city, planning missions and changing the schedule of patrols while Allen kept himself busy eavesdropping on their meetings.

They agreed on keeping a watch over Faulklin after Allen's nagging and found another smith to work with.

Kanda was busy all the time, whether it was planning, leading his men or distributing missions which earned him a scolding or two from the white-haired man. Of course, he only brushed it off every time, saying that he's fine, but many things betrayed the exact opposite. Allen was worried - the dark circles under his partner's eyes grew larger and the shadow in his eyes darker but the man would not listen when he was told to rest.

Everything seemed to calm down for a while and Allen finally decided that it was time for him to go back in the game.

"I'm going with you!" he announced as he fastened the belt with throwing daggers around his hip. Kanda and Lavi threw him a questioning gaze.

"You're not going-" Kanda started, but the white-haired man stopped him with an unpleasant frown.

"I have been sitting on my ass and dying of boredom for almost a month. You cannot hold me here anymore. I'm fine and I'm ready to help."

"You know he really isn't going to stay here even if you try to force the issue," Lavi pointed out gently, eye flicking between both Kanda and Allen.

Actually it was a miracle that the white-haired male had stayed put for another week.

A miracle and no short amount of silver-tongued placations and harsher threats to really tie him down somewhere.

"Something easy might be better in the long-run, just to steady the nerves from becoming too stir-crazy." Mental health was just as important as physical after all, and Allen's had been tilting somewhat precariously with the recent stress. "It's not as if he'll be on his own, so I see no reason why not. We'll just have to be vigilant."

Kanda sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I wanted to storm the warehouse in arsenal district anyway," he said, shaking his head in defeat. He looked at Lavi, expecting him to answer that.

"A supply raid?" Lavi guessed. "Or something else?"

"I heard some rumors about some weapon distribution. We just need to send a clear message that we took over the house."

Lavi nodded in understanding.

"Sounds straight-forward enough." And hopefully something that wouldn't be too strenuous. Take out a few guards around the warehouse and send one or two of them crawling back to their masters with their tails between their legs to deliver the message.

Allen gave them an overly sweet smile and marched outside without further comment. Kanda held his gaze on the door for a short while before he tiredly rubbed his face. It was a while since he had a proper day off and he was finally feeling like his age was slowly catching up with him.

"Ready to go?" he asked, taking his sword from the corner.

"Yeah," Lavi nodded, hoping that no complications would arise.

Allen's health couldn't afford further set-backs and, though Lavi would admit he was just as good at hiding it as anyone could realistically be, Kanda seemed somewhat worn down by everything that had been going on lately. It would be best for all of them if this stayed easy and straight-forward, but for one reason or another, he wasn't going to bet on things staying that simple.

"Lead the way," he nodded with a smile.

* * *

The Arsenal district was too empty for Kanda's liking, but he remained silently brooding. He didn't know whether he was being paranoid or if it was because he felt so tired but he had the feeling that something was _just not right_.

There were no guards on the roofs, nor on the streets and everything was drowning in silence. Kanda gestured to his men to split up and headed straight to the warehouse, followed by Allen and Lavi.

Kanda wasn't the only one. Lavi was having second thoughts about this supposed straight-forward, easy mission, the lifelessness of the streets putting up little red flags in his mind.

Perhaps it was nothing. There could be any number of reasons why people weren't in this area, but he had been taught throughout his life to be cautious. A little paranoid, even. Small doses of it were healthy, just so long as a person didn't let it control them and get in the way of reasonable thought. He didn't like the vibe that he was getting from the lack of activity though. It was the same as quiet in the forest, when even the birds ceased their songs in the presence of an unseen trap.

He could sense the tension in both Kanda and Allen that they were feeling edgy because of it as well.

"Perhaps we should reconsider our plans," he suggested, not so idly as his voice made him sound, his eye watching their surroundings carefully, even the shadows of the rooftops cast on the ground for a potential enemy that might hope to surprise them from above. "I don't like the feel of this."

Kanda gripped the handle of his sword stiffly and nodded. They stopped when Allen raised is hand and shushed them. He turned his head to various direction, listening to the silence of the city when a distant yell echoed from far ahead.

"We got company," he said, jerking his head in the direction of the yell. "Better draw your-" He didn't manage to finish his sentence as a body of an assassin suddenly fell from the roof right in front of him.

"Welcome, welcome!"

That voice made Allen's heart race. "You!" he spat out angrily, dashing forward and onto the roof where Apollo stood, mocking them.

"Idiot!" Kanda yelled after him.

Lavi likewise tsk'ed under his breath as he drew his weapon to follow, sure that his words wouldn't hold Allen back from going after the man but offering them up anyway in the vain hope he might listen. "Allen, stop! Don't chase him on his terms!"

"Fuck!" Kanda cursed and drew his sword. Of course it was a trap! And they strolled right into it.

There were surrounded by thugs and mercenaries, all of them Apollo's recruits, no doubt. Kanda didn't hesitate to drive his sword through the closest one and proceeded to cut them all down as they ran at him. "We need to deal with this quickly!" he yelled at Lavi.

There was a sound of clashing swords from the roof and Kanda didn't have to look to know that Allen engaged his own fight. What bothered him more was the fact that they steadily moved further away while he and Lavi were stuck in the alley.

Lavi nodded his agreement, brandishing his blade. He waited for one of the mercenaries to rush him, two coming at once, and ducked between them at the last second with a segment-severing snap of his spear that neither expected and whirled around, striking one under the ribs with the blunt end of his weapon, and dodging a swing from the second, his spear-tip slashing them across the face and sending them staggering.

"How about an eye-full of smoke?" he tossed. He knew that smoke-bombs were pretty standard equipment for the Assassins, he just wasn't sure whether or not Kanda had any on him.

Kanda growled in anger as he mercilessly slashed a man in half. The downright furious look on his face made a few men reconsider their advances. He whipped around to look at Lavi but nodded, reaching into the pouch on his hip producing a smoke bomb taking a step towards the redhead.

"Be ready to get out as quickly as possible," he said as he sheathed his sword and slammed the bomb on the ground, instantly hiding them in the smoke. "The roof," he whispered to Lavi and dodged to the side to avoid a confused thug whom he used to jump on the nearby crates and then up on the roof. "Quickly!" he yelled as he kneeled on the edge and just as he sighted a mop of red hair emerge from the smoke, Kanda reached into another pouch and took out two more bombs.

Lavi nodded and wasn't far behind, glad he'd had the forethought to secure the hook-blade Allen had gifted him with before they'd left. He was physically capable, and he'd definitely gotten a bit more practice with the rooftop acrobatics since coming here, but he wasn't nearly so experienced with it as the older man was.

He heaved himself up just as Kanda was drawing two more bombs from his pouch, the redhead glancing back as they exploded upon impact with the street and sent the enemies flying, a few losing limbs and others ending up with bloody craters blown through their torsos. It wasn't a pretty sight, but it was one that Lavi wasn't entirely unfamiliar with either and he didn't let it affect him or slow him down as he turned to follow Kanda after Allen and Apollo.

The swordsman jumped from roof to roof as if the Devil himself was on his heels. He could see Allen far ahead - too far ahead - and he knew that wherever Apollo was leading him, was not a good place to end up in. There was a pricking in the back of his neck and Kanda absolutely hated that feeling.

His heart left out a beat when he saw the two men jump down and duck into the warehouse.

Lavi was close, almost matching pace, though Kanda managed to stay just ahead of him the entire way, and he couldn't help but get a bad feeling as well.

He leapt down just behind Kanda, losing another comparable pace, and his mind was sending up all kinds of warnings that he knew not to ignore yet forced himself forward anyway, up until they reached the warehouse where he faltered as his eye caught the sprinklings of black residue all across the floor in a thin layer.

His eye traveled further, almost a full circle around the building, and he noted the barrels and crates, many open or knocked over, strewing black powder all around. Those that weren't open and spilled were stacked all against the far walls, ready to lend even greater burst after the first explosions would start. All of it he took in within only a split second, but it was enough time to make his stomach do several flips in dreaded realization.

The place was a _literal_ powder keg just waiting to be lit, and all it would take would be the faintest ember to set them all ablaze in an instant.

And he knew that, given both how volatile and expensive gunpowder was, not even the sloppiest soldiers or shippers would leave such a mess of it everywhere. This was far too deliberate.

"Jesus Christ almighty! Allen, Yuu, stop! _Stop!_ " he shouted in alarm. "We need to get the Hell out of here! This entire building is set up to blow sky high!"

Kanda spun around to look at Lavi with widened eyes and then scanned the room.

"Get back!" he growled when he saw three of his remaining assassins who were lucky to survive stagger through the door. "GET OUT!"

He turned around to see where Allen was just in time to watch his back hit the floor as Apollo kicked him from the ledge where they were fighting. The older man grinned at them in malice as he ran to the window where a man was already waiting for him, handing him a lit torch.

Time literally stopped for Kanda as he watched the man give him a mock salute and perch himself on the windowsill.

" _Arrivederci_!" Apollo yelled and dropped the torch.

Even from a distance, Lavi could hear the sizzle of gunpowder as the torch hit it, seeing the traveling spark that traced a trail of it towards all of the powder lining the floor and the kegs beyond that.

He cursed and ran for Allen and Kanda, not really having the luxury of time to weigh all of his options and their potential consequences. If they grabbed Allen and sprinted hard, they might still make it out alive. Not necessarily unmarred, but alive, and hopefully without taking on too much damage.

Kanda, however, had a different plan.

Through all the sudden surge of adrenalin, Lavi almost didn't feel the man grab his arm and spin him around to make him stumble and then shove him so hard it sent him flying through the door and onto the ground.

The only explanation Lavi got was the unreadable look on Kanda's face before he pulled his black hood over his head and turned around, throwing himself on top of Allen and cradling his head to his chest.

The next thing that came was a flash of light and a deafening rumble of explosion.

Lavi's eye widened in surprise as his head snapped up from where he'd landed, but by the time he'd fully registered what had happened, it was too late at that point for him to do anything except scramble away from the doorway and the building, curling over himself and tucking his head under his arms to shield it as the whole building went up in flames and shrapnel.

He could feel the heat on his back even from a relatively safe distance and hear charred wood clattering on the street like rainfall, tentatively glancing back up as fire all but engulfed the structure when the explosion passed.

Cursing, he scrambled back to his feet and ran to the doorway, not having very high hopes that he would find much within except a pair of corpses charred black after that.

"Allen! Yuu!"

There was nothing else but the roaring of flames but after a while of straining his ears Lavi heard a faint sound of coughing.

"Lavi," the redhead heard a faint pained cry.

Lavi raised a sleeve to his nose and mouth to keep from choking on the smoke that filled the air and made it hard to see, and quickly made his way to where he heard the voice, dropping down onto a knee next to them.

He knew better than to ask if they were 'okay'. There was no way they were. But he could settle for 'still alive'.

"How bad is it?" he asked instead, hoping as he did so that it wouldn't be so severe that the only thing that could be done for either one of them was a mercy killing.

Allen's answer was a strangled half-sob when he heard Kanda's guttural groan after he gently pushed the older man off him and held him carefully so he wouldn't roll on his back.

"Kanda," Allen shakily whispered when the man started struggling to his feet. They helped him to stand up and lead him outside where the assassins were trying to put the fire out. "Kanda stop!" The white haired man pleaded when his partner stumbled forwards, trying to shake them off. "Lavi, make him stop!"

"Easy, Yuu," Lavi soothed, though he was sure it was in vain.

He wasn't even really sure Kanda could hear them in his current state. He didn't have the full picture on just how bad the man's wounds were yet, not having been able to give them a proper look in the smoke-filled air, but he knew it had to be beyond horrific even without looking at them. He'd seen enough war injuries of all severity to know that much, especially with how out-of-it the man seemed.

"Just try to take it easy. You're not in any condition to be forcing yourself to move. We've got you."

He was trying to think ahead to what he'd need once they reached the safety of the den, hopefully without being confronted by Apollo again, because they were screwed if he decided to come after them now. He still had some other herbs that he'd been using for Faulklin's healing burns that would come in handy now without him having to go out and buy any right away, but he would have to resupply again afterwards.

It took a while, since trying to move Kanda along quickly without jarring his wounds was nearly impossible, but he was admittedly relieved to reach the den where he would be of more use, ducking out from under the arm that he was supporting opposite of Allen carefully.

"Help him go and lie down, I'm going to grab my supplies so I can start treating his wounds," he told the white-haired male, moving quickly to get the things he would need.

Allen helped Kanda to lay prone on his bed with care and knelt next to the man, gently pushing his hair to the side and off his sweaty, soot-covered forehead. He couldn't help but to bite his lip when he saw the charred ends of Kanda's beautiful hair but he still had hope that he would not have to cut off too much.

"Hey," Kanda rasped and blinked tiredly at him. His shaky hand reached out and Allen quickly grabbed it, holding tight. "You... alright?"

"Yeah," Allen sobbed. "You idiot. You sodding idiot!" He cried openly now, pressing Kanda's knuckles against his forehead. "Why are you so careless?"

Kanda sighed with a tired smile on his face and let his hand go limp. "A belt," he rasped, "to bite." Allen scrambled to his feet and undid one of his own belts, folding it but when he was about to give it to Kanda, he suddenly collapsed on the floor and threw up.

The illness was catching up again, he thought when he saw all the blood covering the floor. But he didn't have time for that now.

"Sorry," he croaked as he composed himself and sat next to the bed again, leaning his head against Kanda's. "We're messed up, aren't we?"

Lavi returned soon, bringing with him two other assassins merely to help carry some of the supplies before they were dismissed again. He set a glass of water and poppy seeds near Kanda within easy enough reach.

"Here. These'll help with the pain. Pretty strong sedatives too. They'll knock you right out, given a good half hour or so to digest," he advised, not waiting to see if Kanda would take them and instead turning to his supplies, sorting out the proper amount of various herbs he would need. Kanda stared at Lavi's back but he didn't take the drink. Allen urged him silently but he only received a hard glare from the man. "Allen, do you know how to mix a poultice?"

"It's just mixing stuff up, right?" Allen asked with a raspy voice as he struggled to stand up. Lavi nodded, pressing a stack of herbs into a small bowl made of what looked like granite and a mixing stone.

"Yeah. Just grind these up really well and then mix in cold water, a little bit at a time until you have a paste, but not soupy. Then-" he handed off a stack of frost-green leaves. "Spread it on these and carefully put them on the spots on his back where I've finished cleaning with the paste side down."

Trusting that Allen would be able to handle that much, he tied back his hair and turned to the bucket he'd had brought in, soaking and wringing out a rag with cold water as he started his work.

Of all the injuries he could have had to treat, he hated burns like these the most. It wasn't just that he had to carefully clean the burned skin, but that the clothing itself became imbedded with the flesh from the heat and pressure of the explosion. It made for very delicate, time-consuming work, and it definitely spoke high of Kanda's tolerance for pain that he chose to stay fully conscious through it as he carefully peeled patches of cloth and threads out of the wounds, sometimes having to use small metal tools or a blade to get all of it, and washed the injuries clean with gentle dabs.

When he was sure that they'd done the best they could, he had Allen help Kanda up off the bed just enough that he could wrap his torso with bandages over the leaves and herbal paste.

"I'll need to check them again a little later, but you should be fine given time to heal. Infections will have a real Hell of a time getting into your system too with how much antiseptic and garlic I used in the wrappings, so I wouldn't worry too much about complications once the inflammation goes down in the next few days."

Kanda kept silent during the whole procedure, biting the belt and gripping the side of the bed with his hand. Allen winced every time his partner did but he obediently did what Lavi told him, ignoring his trembling hands.

When it was done, he slumped down onto the floor like he was before. He listened to Kanda's labored breathing, trying to undo the sash and belt on his hip.

"Drink the water," Allen tried again, lying his cheek against a cold spot on the bed. Why was Kanda being so stubborn? At a time like this. "I know you're tired and the pain keeps you awake. You deserve to rest, too." Kanda gave him a tired stare. "Please!"

The resigned sigh was answer enough and if Allen had been less tired and hurting, he would probably do more than just smile and carefully hand him the water.

Cleaning up somewhat, Lavi turned his attention to Allen now, glancing over him appraisingly. He hadn't seen anything glaringly obvious before, but he was hard-pressed to believe Allen had gotten away unscathed, even with Kanda's attempt to shield him.

"What about you, Allen? Any injuries?" Before the other male could form an answer, he added quickly, "And _don't_ lie if you do. I swear to the Gods of every religion that exists, I'll knock you over the head myself to get to them if you lie about not having any."

Allen gave a weak chuckle but shook his head anyway.

"I'm just tired," he said and looked at Kanda again, who looked on the verge of passing out. The older male's breathing quickened for a second and he struggled to say something. "I'm alright," the white-haired man whispered assurance.

"If you say so," Lavi hummed, unconvinced. "You should get some rest too, though. Even if you're not injured, you're bound to suffer from some mental shock, after everything that happened today." He washed his hands clean on a rag before setting it aside. "I can give you something to help you sleep it off."

Allen managed a pathetic scoff. A mental shock? He had so many of them that he is slowly getting used to it. The feeling of guilt, however, was much worse.

"I'm fine, Lavi. How about your injuries? Are you alright?" he asked as he tried to rub the pain in his chest away, only in vain. He didn't even have the strength to move. "I'll stay here. In case... in case something happens..."

"I'm fine," he assured, watching Allen for a moment in calculation as he picked up a few things to move from the room, so as not to clutter the place up. "I sort of got pushed out of the way thanks to Yuu there, so I didn't get much in the way of injuries. Nothing I can't handle myself." Actually, he wasn't even sure he had any, other than maybe a bit of soreness from when he hit the ground.

He left the room for a couple of minutes to put things away before he came back, toting along a glass of water. He briefly glanced at Kanda, but it looked like the opium poppy had done its work in rendering the man unconscious.

He smiled innocently and lightly patted the wall just off to the side of where Allen sat against the bed.

"Hey, 'sprout, move over here a moment, would you? I just need to check something," he directed. "And I need you out of the way for it."

Allen gave another tired sigh and stood up, swaying slightly. His eyes lingered on the bandages around his partner's torso and arm and he internally cringed when he remembered how horrible the burnt flesh looked.

He shuffled where Lavi gestured, blinking at the redhead but not really paying attention since the pain in his chest spiked again.

Lavi nodded his approval and went to bend over near Kanda, glancing to make sure the guy really looked like he was asleep. He straightened up after a moment and took a drink of water, holding it there as he turned and grasped Allen by the chin and pressed him against the wall.

"Mmhmph!"

Allen stumbled backwards when he felt Lavi's lips on his and he froze for a second, not knowing what to do and his sluggish mind didn't really catch up on what was happening. He really started panicking when he felt the bookman's tongue slip into his mouth, along with water and somethig else and he desperately wanted to bite him but the hand on his jaw prevented him from doing so. He started struggling more violently, trying to get it out of his mouth but Lavi wouldn't allow it, and he couldn't draw in breath without choking on the water.

The man only released him when Allen finally swallowed and Lavi was sure it was really where it should be, and thanks to Allen's stubborness, took longer than he would have expected. When the white haired male felt the redhead's hold on him grow weaker he finally pushed him far enough to plant a proper slap on his cheek.

"Bastard! What do you think you're doing? What did you just make me eat?!" Allen raged, but his frown was not really effectively since he could hardly stand on his own.

Lavi only smiled at him shamelessly, rubbing his cheek as he stepped back. Considering what he'd just done, it was a rather light punishment, so he didn't let it bother him.

"Nothing that'll hurt you, just a few poppy seeds," he shrugged, entirely unapologetic, taking a proper drink of water for himself this time, rather than merely one meant to force Allen to swallow. "You'll sleep well tonight though." He reached out and gave the white-haired male's hair an affectionate tousle. "I'd make yourself comfortable before they take effect. No amount of stubbornness is going to allow you to fight those off."

"I didn't ask for this!" It was rare to see Allen run out of words to throw at someone. But that only showed how really pissed off he was. Furious even. And maybe if his hair wasn't all white, he would look like a vicious wraith.

He breathed though his nose, holding himself up against the wall. He was boiling inside. And he was a bit scared. What if something happened?

"You-! You-!" he stuttered, pointing his finger at the amused looking Lavi. He could feel his fingers and tongue going slightly numb.

"Yuu is gonna be just fine," Lavi told him gently, looking serious for a moment. "If there's one thing I know well, it's wounds, and his are bad, but they're not fatal, and I gave him the best treatment I know how to give. He just needs time to rest. I know you're worried, but he's gonna be fine." He wrapped an arm around Allen's shoulders, giving them a light squeeze of reassurance. "Now you have to take care of your own needs, but I know you're too stubborn to even consider them," he smiled slightly again. "So I just sorta helped you along with that."

"Liar!" Allen snarled, but his words were less heated than a while ago, probably because the opium and exhaustion was taking effect. "You're a fucking liar! Don't touch... me... I haven't... forgiven-"

And before he could deliver another hit to the redhead's cheek, he passed out, slumping into Lavi's arms like a sack of potatoes.

Lavi caught him easily before he could have an unceremonious meeting with the floor, maneuvering an arm behind the man's knees to pick him up carefully bridal-style and place him down carefully where the younger male would be able to sleep properly.

" 'wasn't really lying," he hummed under his breath quietly, brushing his hair aside with somewhat of a fond smile. "But you're allowed to think what you wish."

He took the liberty of checking for wounds now that both he and Kanda were unconscious, finding a few minor cuts and burns, but nothing anywhere near as bad as Kanda had had. He treated those and wrapped them before leaving both alone to rest and made his way to the library afterwards, deciding he would stick close for a night or two rather than return to his own place to keep an eye on them and their injuries.

With a soft sigh, he settled down onto some pillows with a book and did some reading up until the point that the events caught up to him as well too much to keep his eyes open and he nestled comfortably into the cushions on the floor to sleep.

 


	29. Two Strikes

When Kanda opened his eyes later, there was only one thing on his mind - killing traitors and lechers. And one particular traitor and lecher was currently residing his den. Fortunately for him, not much longer.

He didn't even feel the pain through his rage. He spotted the sprout on the floor, clothes askew, hair disheveled but most importantly, completely knocked out. Kanda checked his breathing with his palm and when he found out everything was fine, he limped through the room to get his sword and went hunting. He didn't need the sheath so he left it in the room - also, it was not as if he could draw the sword properly with the injury.

The assassins who saw him didn't even dare to come closer or god forbid ask whether he was alright because seeing their leader as he was now - bared blade in his hands, bruises and bloodied bandages on his body, hair down and the promise of murder in his eyes - was a reason enough not to interact.

He swore at his numb legs and the rather unpleasant pins and needles in his left arm and side but that was not enough to stop him. He found his target in the library, going through the books as if nothing ever happened!

Kanda crept inside and silently closed the door, twisting the key in the keyhole. He saw his target's shoulders stiffen a little. Good. Then he turned around, with a book in his hands and a mildly questioning look on his face.

Kanda grit his teeth and pointed his sword at Lavi. "The drug you gave me was not as strong as you thought it was, rabbit!"

Lavi glanced over at him, blinking once or twice in contemplation of the words and their meaning before he smiled innocently.

" 'morning, Yuu. Not sure I know what you're referring to, but you really shouldn't be out of bed yet in your condition." He slid a half-pulled out book back into its spot between two others as his single eye notably lingered towards the bared sword, though the concern he showed as minimal at best, save for just the slightest preparatory tension in his muscles. "Too much activity could potentially tear your wounds."

"I will tear you apart, you fuck!" Kanda growled and swung his sword at Lavi's direction. A miss, of course - trying to kill an agile asshole does have its downsides when you have your whole side burnt.

It wasn't really hard for Lavi to dodge the attempt even in such a narrow space when the other man was injured, and he'd gotten a fairly good handle on how to dodge Kanda's swings when the man got angry enough to attack him. He danced back and held his hands up in a placating manner, smiling wryly.

"Can't we talk about this like civil people?"

Kanda roared and tried to stab him again. "Civil people?!" He asked, spitting rage. "We have nothing to talk about anymore, except your funeral!" He charged again, wincing in pain.

Lavi feinted to one side and then swept around the other when he saw Kanda wince and his attack hesitate just for a split second, hooking the top crook of his foot under one of Kanda's legs to set him off balance. Whether it actually worked to trip him up or not, he put a few good feet of distance between them, unaffected.

"Sorry Yuu, but even were that the case, you're no match for me as you are now. Under normal circumstances, most certainly, but you're too wounded to put up much of a real fight." He folded his hands behind his head casually. "You can keep trying, of course, but I'd hate to have to patch you up all over again, and Allen won't be happy about it."

"Stop calling him so familiarly, you bastard!" Kanda growled as he righted himself up and held his breath to bare with the pain, charging again. He was more successful this time as he managed to nick Lavi's shoulder. "I warned you to not make any funny moves," he said, preparing for another attack.

"Did I make any funny moves?" It was difficult to tell with the way he smiled and the hint of a tease in his voice if he was merely playing dumb or was sincerely confused and merely taking the man's attacks towards him equally as non-serious as he normally did. He was very good at playing the part of the easygoing fool. "I hadn't really noticed." He ducked away from another swing that imbedded in the wood of another bookshelf and momentarily stuck. Lavi glanced behind him at the dead end of the aisle, calculating his next move carefully beneath the err of playfulness.

"I saw what you did last night!" the swordsman roared, taking the closest chair and hurling it at the grinning redhead.

"Oh," Lavi deadpanned, not really getting the chance to say much else as Kanda flung furniture at him. One of the legs brushed his side, leaving it a little sore, but otherwise he caught it.

That wasn't really to his advantage since Kanda rushed in and managed to knock him to the ground with his weight on the chair, trapping the other between the legs of it against the ground so he couldn't very well maneuver free, and certainly not before the swordsman had the tip of the blade to his throat.

His single eye traced up the length of the blade to Kanda's face and some of the playfulness immediately fled, the bookman looking like he was taking it noticeably more serious now that the older male effectively had him trapped.

"Exactly how much of that were you awake for? Because I get the feeling just long enough to misunderstand what that was and not much more."

"Long enough to see him struggle as you pinned him against the wall, now say your last wish before I cut your head off!" Kanda said, cutting into Lavi's neck to emphasize his anger.

"Okay, just hold on a moment! That wasn't what you thought it was! Even ask Allen when he wakes up if you don't believe me!" Lavi frantically tried to explain, one hand grasping the dull spine of the sword to keep the man from really following through and slicing open an artery. "He wouldn't rest because he was worried about you so I had to slip him medicine to make him sleep, same thing as what he talked you into taking. I couldn't very well have knocked him out by hitting him because he's got those injuries from the Apple and if I tried holding him to the floor and forcing them on him another way, he would've struggled even more and risked hurting himself!"

"And just why should I believe you, hm?" He asked, resting the tip of the sword on the ground. "You´re just trying to get into his pants and I don´t like it. This is the second time something like this happened."

"The second...?" Lavi trailed off before his eye lit up in realization. " _Oooh_ , you're talking about when he claimed I was molesting him that one day, aren't you? You think...?" He snorted and tried to hide a smile behind his palm as he turned his head aside. "Wow, you're _really_ paranoid about that, aren't you? Now it all makes sense, why you've been so touchy around me since I've shown up. You think I'm trying to win him over from you."

He sobered slightly as he looked back up at Kanda, unable to get rid of the smirk on his lips.

"Okay, but let me ask you something, in all seriousness. Do you honestly think Allen would tolerate my presence anywhere even _remotely_ near him if I really was that kind of person? Much less consider me his friend? I mean, you've had to have noticed by now how much he's repulsed by those sorts of people."

Kanda pressed the sword back against the redhead's throat to wipe off that smile. "He is sometimes a little bit naïve as you might have noticed, and I heard you were good friends." He said the last part with thick sarcasm. "If I hear one more -"

A knock interrupted him.

"Guys, are you in here?" Allen's muffled and slightly worried voice echoed from outside the room.

Kanda glared at Lavi for a while before standing up from the chair. "Looks like we can ask him now."

Lavi couldn't help but relax as Kanda stepped away, finally free to push the chair off him and rub his neck with a grimace, feeling the small laceration left by the tip of the blade. That really was way too close for his comfort level.

"He really isn't _that_ naïve," he grumbled.

"Why are you out of bed!?" Allen screeched once Kanda opened the door for him. "You need rest, you idiot!" The scolding was severe but it was evident that it went one ear in, the other one out.

"Alright, alright!" Kanda shut him up with his hand and scowled at Lavi. "What did he do to you yesterday?" he asked, jerking his thumb at the redhead.

Allen was silent for a split of a second and then he threw the most loftier and disdainful look at Lavi he could muster. "Give me your sword," he said and Kanda reluctantly complied. "I can't have you kill him. He forced himself on me."

Kanda didn't hesitate for a second after that. Before Lavi even opened his mouth, Kanda threw himself at the redhead, wounds be damned, and slammed his fist square into his jaw with a force that made lavi turn around. Before he could take another swing, Allen caught his arm.

"That's enough." The swordsman wanted to protest but Allen cut him off. "He didn't do anything. He tricked me to drug me, so don't kill him. We have nobody else to treat your wounds right now," he clarified, helping Kanda stand up. "Payback," he said to Lavi, who was leaning against the wall, rubbing his jaw. "Reconsider doing such a stunt next time." Allen smiled sweetly and helped Kanda to hobble back into their room, silently cursing him.

Lavi couldn't help but blink in shock after them, still rubbing his jaw and pretty sure that Kanda's punch had given him whiplash on top of the nice bruise he was probably going to be sporting for the next day or two.

"That damn-... and try coming up with a new form of false blackmail next time, before that one goes stale!" he shouted testily after Allen's back for good measure, doing nothing to hide the exasperation from entering his voice. "As if I'd even want to force myself on such a short devil spawn! ...fuck, that hurts." This last bit was more a grumble to himself than anything, hoping his neck hadn't taken damage from that blow.


	30. Icebreaker

At least the only thing that Allen did to him at that point was the one hit he let Kanda take. Maybe he'd deserved it - just a _wee_ little bit - but damn could that guy throw a punch!

The next few days were relatively quiet, if not a little tense. Mainly for the fact that Kanda was bedridden and the assassins didn't seem very accustomed to having their leader fully out of commission. For once, Allen wasn't complaining about being stuck inside. He seemed to perhaps even _enjoy_ being the one to dote on Kanda for once instead of the other way around, though he was quite obviously still upset about the reason of having to.

It was kind of funny, actually, being a spectator on the sidelines of it all. No matter which one was doting and which was being doted _on_ , they were both flustered and annoyed by it in some manner, and both thought they were more right than the other. Stubbornness incarnate, the both of them!

Maybe some air and relaxation would do them all some good.

"Alright, lovebirds, what do you say to some good old fashion drink and eat out?" he proposed. "Personally I could go for some more pleasant company and relaxation, and I know that you know the perfect place," he said, offering an indicating wink towards Allen. "Maybe I can even get that one pretty gal to give me another massage over dinner."

Allen and Kanda both shared a look and Allen was the first to speak as he seized Kanda's side. "I don't think-"

"Good idea, rabbit. I'm fed up being stuck here," the older man interrupted, standing up. "Been a while since I had a proper drink, too." He looked purposely at his partner, massaging his left arm. It was still pretty painful and way too far from completely healed, but Allen was more uptight than ever and doting on him, which quickly became very annoying. "Time for you to loosen up a bit. You've been insufferable."

"Hey!"

Nevertheless, they ended up in the brothel where the white-head met Demir - Allen shrugged at the thought of the man. They took a place near the corner from where they could see the door and pretty much the whole establishment, ordered their drinks, and Lavi could finally relax under the hands of his most favorite courtesan.

Allen and Kanda had couple of their own companions but both men elected to let them only pour their drinks and bring their foods. Kanda was too sore for a massage anyway.

Lavi, however, was greatly enjoying his, stretched out over a couple of pillows that he was practically melting into like warmed butter. Having someone else serve him food was nice, of course, but this was what he had most been looking forward to, a content smile on his face. Between the massage and drink, it was almost enough to lull him, but he managed to keep himself awake.

There was an unpleasant tingle just barely itching the back of his neck and keeping him very slightly alert, but if there was anything to be worried about, he didn't see it and neither Allen nor Kanda appeared to notice anything.

Wiggling to make himself more comfortable, he glanced sideways over at Allen and Kanda. Might as well make some conversation if they were going to enjoy the evening together.

"So, I've more or less heard the 'how we first met' and 'how we got _here_ ' stories, but not really much more than that, like how you two ended up together and such," he prompted curiously, with slight extra, deliberate emphasis on the word 'together'.

Kanda arched an eyebrow at him and Allen unexpectedly blushed, looking to the side.

"It's complicated," he said and Kanda slowly turned his head to arch an eyebrow at him for the change.

"Not complicated," the swordsman said thoughtfully, murmuring something very similiar to ´little whore´ after that and smirking. He sipped his wine, trying to hide his grin, eyeing the still blushing Allen from the corner of his eye. "Not complicated at all."

"It is not a polite question to ask, Lavi!" Allen was getting a little fidgety.

Lavi's brow raised as well, a small smirk starting to blossom on his lips. He rolled onto his side, propping a palm beneath his cheek.

"Oh? But now you have me curious, and you should know better than to make me curious," he teased, that smirk steadily creeping wider. "And you know what they say, something to the effect of... 'what happens in the brothel stays in the brothel'? I can keep a secret."

Allen got even redder and stubbornly refused to look neither on Lavi, nor on Kanda.

"Well, too bad, Lavi. I can't speak with my mouth full, after all." He huffed and stuffed his mouth full of food, much to the delight of the courtesans who cooed over him. Kanda shook his head but said nothing, the smirk still present on his face.

"Well you have to come up for air eventually," Lavi laughed, the smirk on his face growing wider and a mischievous twinkle in his green eye, as if he was waiting for just that.

Or maybe something else.

"And you!" He pointed at Kanda. "Don't you dare to say it!" Kanda shrugged and pursed his lips to keep himself from laughing.

"I think this is the closest I've ever seen Yuu to laughing," Lavi whistled, impressed. "Must be quite the tale."

"Depends on how you tell it," the swordsman commented mildly which earned him a harsh _´shush´_ from Allen.

"We had a deal - never to speak of it again!" The white-head said and ate a handful of berries. "You-" He choked then and hit his chest with his fist. Kanda frowned and sat straighter.

Allen then proceeded to gasp and fan himself. "What the hell?!" He croaked, his face growing slightly purple. "You fuck!"

"What's wrong?" Kanda asked, not knowing what to do. Allen looked as if he was choking, except he wasn't.

"Hot!" The white-haired man gasped. "Hot!"

Lavi couldn't help but burst out laughing, feeling not one but two pairs of accusing eyes on him, one more dangerous than the other, but mainly only because the other was trying and failing to get rid of the burn.

"Payback~," he chimed with a voice dripping a sickening amount of sweetness. "They say revenge is best served cold, but I like to think it's served better _spicy_."

"You mongrel!" Allen rasped, gripping his neck. One of the courtesans handed him milk which he immediately drank. It barely helped.

Kanda shook his head as he drank his wine. "What is with you and the paybacks?" He wondered out loud. "You should watch what you put into your mouth, idiot," he commented offhandedly.

Lavi only grinned shamelessly. "It's just sort of this thing we have going," he shrugged nonchalantly, sipping his own wine and content to watch Allen struggle with combating the pepper he'd managed to have slipped in amongst everything else. "You'd think Allen would learn better than to challenge me to anything even remotely like a prank war but he never actually does." He raised a mock toast and another unapologetic smirk towards the white-haired man before swigging down another mouthful of his drink.

"Idiots. Both of you." The swordsman shook his head and finished his cup of wine too.

Allen retired somewhere where he could wash his mouth and get the pepper out of his system, while Kanda and Lavi kept drinking and enjoying the company of the courtesans. They barely registered the progressing time and the amount of wine they drank, until it got rather too late and they were slightly more drunk than they initially planned. Kanda didn't really mind - the pain from his injuries were reduced to dull throbbing.

"If you killed him, I'm going to rip your head off," Kanda slurred slightly, thrusting his finger at Lavi.

Lavi only snorted, rolling his single eye. "I could think of much more efficient plants if I'd wanted to do that." He paused to smile a little too widely. "That's Habanero, Yuu. Ever heard of it? It's hard as Hell to dull. He's alive, but he might be wishing he wasn't for a little while. That stuff is potent."

He rolled onto his back and stretched languidly, content to let the courtesan play with his hair now that he'd had a thorough back massage.

"So how is it you and him came together the way you did? I mean, after you decided he wasn't the enemy your superiors made him out to be, you could have always just returned here and never spoken to him again or something."

Kanda took a not-very-stealthy look around the room to see if Allen was anywhere around and turned back to Lavi. They were both quite intoxicated at this point and he didn't really mind telling him anyway. Alcohol did wonders to people.

"Well," he started, wiggling into a more comfortable position while a woman poured him another cup of wine. "We fought a lot. And let's say, one fight did not go the way it usually went." He shrugged. "I think he's embarrassed because we ended up doing it in an alley and, well, he was the one who initiated."

Kanda remembered they very vividly. It was the first time he actually experienced what an apprentice of the most infamous assassin man-whore that ever walked the Earth had up his sleeve. He only met Cross face to face once and that was enough for him to wish never to encounter the man again. Ever.

"We kinda had an aggressive quickie in the alley and then we ended up in his room," Kanda said and shrugged as if he was describing the weather.

Lavi was watching him out the side of his single eye with a brow quirked upward slightly as he listening. He was silent for a few moments after Kanda finished before he snorted and shook his head, turning his gaze up towards the ceiling with a barely contained smirk.

"Yeah, sounds about along the lines of something that little devil-spawn would pull," he mused. "I think he's just damn lucky that you turned out to not be one of the many people that are repulsed by that sort of relation, otherwise things could have ended up a lot differently."

"Honestly, I have no idea how it happened," he said. "But damn, I sure as hell don't regret it. We had a couple of fights after that and we kind of avoided each other as much as possible but we always ended up arguing somewhere. One thing led to another..." He paused, sighing. "It was chaotic but not bad. We licked each other's wounds and somehow, we worked it up to where we are now." Kanda's face grew a little bit melancholic and sad. He tried to cover it by drinking again.

"Lick each others wounds?" The brow that had settled tilted straight back up.

Kanda sighed again and put the cup down. "I had a lover before him," he murmured, "she died before we could get married." There was silence after that, the only disturbance being the silent sobs of the courtesans who quietly listened. "Anyway," the swordsman shrugged, "if I remember correctly, he said something about an asshole leaving him without a word."

"Oh," Lavi silently hummed, really more like a sigh of air than a spoken word. That last bit stung him a bit more than he knew it should, but he quickly recovered, going on to speak before his silence could become too noticeable and forcing a slight smile. "I see. You said before that you didn't really know why he picked you, but actually I think you know exactly the reason."

Kanda gave him an unamused look. "Really," he said, "he could have picked anyone. Literally anyone." Maybe he didn't seem like it, but he knew how _pleasant_ his company is. "Maybe he's a sadist?" he offered, shrugging.

"Nah! C'mon Yuu, you _know_ what it is. You only just said something about it a moment ago," Lavi hummed coaxingly, his smirk growing and becoming more playful. "You call him naïve and act like his attention is easy to earn but it isn't. He's way more discerning and picky than you give him credit for. I'll give you a hint. He told me once that he likes you because he's into 'bad boys', but what do you think he really meant by that?"

Kanda made the most confusing face Lavi has ever seen. Damn the night out was really paying off.

"I uh - have no idea..." He trailed off, making the courtesans laugh. "Bad boys?"

"It's people who have been damaged by circumstance. _Damaged_ , but not destroyed by it, who still have something salvageable beneath that's worth nurturing," he stated matter-of-factly, looking thoughtful for a moment. "He's a protector. It's his virtue as well as his weakness, and it's why Apollo hits him where it hurts most and kills his students and comrades instead of coming after him directly, even though he's had plenty of chances. I told you, skills and physical appearances are only enough to infatuate, but what really draws him in are the people with needs to be filled, and the ones who can't speak of it are the ones he's drawn to the most, because that's the feeling he's most intimate with himself."

The redhead smiled and shrugged nonchalance.

"Licking each other's wounds, as you called it. If you had been just another thug with a sword and a pretty face, he wouldn't have given you more than a glance."

Kanda stayed silent for a while, pondering. "Maybe you're right." He smiled as well. "He cares about people way too much. If there is one thing I regret, it is killing that student of his." He turned around then as if sensing his partner and sure enough, Allen walked out of the bathroom, eyes teary and face still red.

"I'm going to murder you in your sleep, you ginger pirate!" He cursed and collapsed next to Kanda.

"Well, at least I'll die with a smile on my face!" Lavi laughed heartily.

A frown appeared on Allen's face and he carefully looked at both men. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"No," Kanda answered him silently. "Nothing at all."

Lavi still had a strange feeling that prickled the hairs on his neck, absently rubbing it and glancing elsewhere around the room, but nothing immediately stood out to him and his attention was shorter than usual with the buzz of wine in his system.

On the plus side, it seemed like maybe he and Kanda were managing to break some bit of ice between them, and apparently the man didn't know that he and Allen had been a little more than friends in their past. Certainly not to the same seriousness that Allen and Kanda were together now, but he highly doubted that the man would overlook even the slightest potential threat to their relationship.

Almost having his head taken off a few days before was testament enough to that.

Another few drinks and a dessert later, he was quite thoroughly sloshed, more than he normally allowed himself, but he figured one time couldn't possibly hurt.

"Oh man this was nice!" he half-purred, half-slurred as he stretched out again and sat up, feeling content. He would definitely sleep well tonight, and have a lovely pulsing hangover in the morning, but that was far from his mind at the moment. He grasped the hand of the courtesan that had been patiently tending him all night and placed a peck on her knuckles as well as forking over a generous amount of coin. "And _you_ have been wonderful company."

She smiled and flushed slightly, seeming happy to please someone that didn't care at all for more than what she'd already provided.

"You guys ready to head back or what?" His attention turned to Allen and Kanda now.

"You guys..." Allen lamented as he nudged Kanda who was dozing off on his shoulder. "Alcoholics..." he muttered. Kanda grumbled but stood up and wobbled to the bar to pay for everything while Allen tried to help Lavi to his feet.

"I hope your head splits in the morning from the hangover," he said to Lavi and looked towards the bar where Kanda was having a little difficulty with counting the money. "How much did you drink?!"

" 'thought you said you were going to kill me while I sleep though?" Lavi teased unsteadily. "An' you're one to talk, after all th' trouble you put me through that one night I told you to take it easy on the drinks. You're not allowed to claim innocence when it comes to drinking."

Allen rolled his eyes as he put Lavi's arm over his shoulders and dragged him to his feet, wincing slightly. The sudden stabs of pain he was getting were more frequent lately. He brushed it off and walked the redhead towards the exit.

Kanda followed after them, swaying slightly but when Allen asked if he needed help, he only nodded mutely and walked ahead.

"What have you two been talking about?" the white-haired man tried, betting his luck of finding out on Lavi's drunkness. "He didn't tell you... how we ended up _`together`_ , right?"

"Oh yeah, he told me all about it... Allen, you sly dog, you!" Lavi waggled his brow suggestively and laughed at the face the other gave him, enough that he almost fell over, if not for Allen keeping him steady. His mentor had always scolded him about being a loudmouth. Being drunk certainly didn't help with that. "But hey, I guess you've gotta win 'em over _somehow_ when you like what you see, right?" He snickered at how Allen's face started to go red again after he'd finally managed to recover from the pepper.

Allen almost dropped him.

"Kanda, you liar! You promised!" But Kanda was too drunk to take his dear sweetheart seriously and he started singing and marched ahead. Something along the lines of _'I dont remember, I don't mind'_?

Allen shook his head. Kanda could be the biggest prick in the world if he woke up on a bad side. He had the temper of a hungry snake, but when he's drunk, he's as calm as the morning sea. That was something Allen would always wonder about. Only if he stayed like that after the morning - hangovers make him even more temperamental and not even Allen can talk him into calming down.

"Stupid," Allen murmured and slammed his heel on Lavi's foot. "That's for immature talk, you ass," he grumbled, ignoring the pain in his chest and adjusting the redhead so he could drag him more comfortably.

Lavi yelped and withdrew his leg, hopping forward on the other one which almost ended in them both on the pavement, before he found his footing again and laughing. Alcohol did a very good job of masking the pain.

"Hey, I can't help that you're fun to tease, 'sprout!"

The rest of the way was more pleasant for the drunk redhead than it was for Allen, and when they reached the den and the library, where Allen tried to deposit the damn troublemaker onto the pillows there that the bookman had compiled the night before, he wasn't quite so lucky to escape without being dragged down with the drunk-silly older man, who proceeded to snuggle against him as if Allen was his own personal teddy bear.

"C'mon 'sprout, don't leave yet! We were jus' havin' so much fun!"

"Lavi!" Allen whined, struggling to free himself. "You're drunk, let me go! You're going to regret this in the morning!"

"Hey!" came another drunk voice from the entrance. "Let go of my-my-spause!" Kanda slurred, catching himself on the table to keep himself upright.

Allen stared at him with mouth gaping and eyes wide open. "How much did you two drink?!" He screeched in horror. He has never seen Kanda so drunk in his life. He could barely stand, his eyes were glassy and the way he spoke... that was just too much.

"You rabbit!" The swordsman spat the word as a curse, "Let him go or I'll-" He didn't get to finish his sentence and doubled over, tripping over his own long legs and fell on top of them. Allen gasped for air as he felt the sudden weight on him and tried to maneuver Kanda down on the floor without hitting his burnt side, which would have been easier if Lavi wasn't still holding him.

"Oi! Get off!" Lavi grumbled, not really appreciating getting fallen on any more than Allen.

He pushed Kanda off to the other side of the white-haired man with a foot against Kanda's hip, arms still wrapped around Allen's side, who was still making it a point to curse and demand he let go, trying to pry the redhead's arms off.

Suffice to say, he only snugged up closer to his side with a whine of protest, burying his face against Allen's shoulder, the younger male yelling something about drunkness and perversion and what Kanda was going to do to him come morning.

"Does he also kill cats every time one innocently brushes against your ankle?" he couldn't help but snark a little bit bitingly, before it melted in a slurred, somewhat pitiful tone, more like he was seeking permission now and afraid of what the answer might be. "Jus' want t' keep yer company a while longer... 'never spend time like this, like we used to... izz that not okay?"

Allen screamed in frustration and slapped Lavi's cheeks but that didn't help him either. He was locked in an iron grip and there was no way out. Kanda sadly fell asleep the moment he hit the floor and no amount of threats or yelling seemed to wake him up.

"Lavi, please!" Allen whined, giving up the stuggle. "Let me go, I can't let Kanda sleep on the floor in this condition!"

Lavi looked hurt and reluctantly held on for a few moments more before huffing softly and retracted his hold, shimmying a few inches off to the side and looking dejected and too drunk to bother hiding it. Injured or not, Allen would always defer back to Kanda over him, but especially now of all times, he couldn't expect the man to turn a blind eye to his partner for someone like him.

He shifted to try and get comfortable again, turning his head to stare off elsewhere in rejected silence and murmuring, "Go take care o' him..."

Allen huffed and scrambled to his legs to stand over Kanda. Problem was, he couldn't move the man. At all. His chest was still hurting and his partner was a dead weight passed out on the floor. He tried heaving him up by his armpits but he wouldn't budge. Allen grumbled under his breath, noticing that Lavi, in his sulky little fit, pointedly looked elswhere like a little child.

When Allen tried pulling Kanda by his uninjured arm, the man just turned over in his sleep and dragged him down onto the ground.

"I hate you two so damn much," Allen cursed, sitting between the two men. He looked between his snoring partner and the sulking redhead and sighed. Might as well get comfortable.

"Move, you ginger cuddlewhore!" the white-haired man snapped as he wiggled against Lavi's side. Lying on Kanda was out of question due to his injuries so why not use the next best pillow? He pinched Lavi's cheek playfully. "Let me get a little bit more comfortable."

Lavi looked somewhat startled at first then brightened, not so much looking smug as he did pleasantly surprised, like a dog or cat previously kicked out into the yard now being let back inside from the rain.

"Yeah but I'm _your_ cuddlewhore," he hummed amusement, shifting so Allen could get comfortable against him. He almost purred contentment at the closeness and already felt himself drifting, just barely, stubbornly clinging on to some vague level of awareness to savor the warmth and contact for as long as he could before his consciousness could slip fully. That same watched feeling pricked at the back of his mind, but it fled with his awareness as deep sleep finally crashed down on him in its entirety.


	31. Fracture

The morning was horrible. Kanda woke up with a splitting headache and, as if that wasn't enough, his arm felt like it was going to fall off any second. He rolled, turned his head to the left, and immediately regretted it as a stabbing pain shot up across his back.

He was on the floor. Why was he on the floor?

And why the fuck was the beansprout sleeping with the one-eyed rabbit?!

"You're up," Allen silently whispered, carefully moving Lavi's arm so that he wouldn't wake up. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," Kanda replied truthfully, scowling at the other man.

"Don't give me that look!" Allen scolded, knowing exactly what the other was thinking. "Not after I took care of you yesterday."

"Whatever," came a sulky reply and it seemed to have worked because the next think Kanda knew was that he had his arms full of Allen who made a point to plant a very sloppy kiss on his cheek. Kanda could hardly hold back his grin.

"Come on. Let's get you up."

His headache turned out to be even worse while standing.

"It is your own fault," Allen commented. "You shouldn't have drank that much yesterday."

They made their way into the washroom and spent good thirty minutes fooling around with the water like children, only stopping when they were both completely wet. After Allen fixed Kanda's bandages and dressed up, they both went down the stairs to get some food for their achingly empty stomachs.

"What's wrong?" Kanda asked, almost running into Allen who suddenly stopped at the entrance, staring ahead with a disturbed look on his face. The swordsman scanned the room but didn't find anything suspicious. "What's going on?"

"Oh no," Allen breathed out, his eyes never leaving the old man Tiedoll was conversing with. "I have a bad feeling about this."

The small old man - much smaller than Allen in stature - glanced up as if on cue, face as emotionally impassive as stone. He nodded his head to the white-haired lad in customarily polite greeting, only hesitating to speak long enough to sip at a cup of tea in-hand.

"Allen Walker," he acknowledged, voice weathered with great age. "It's been long since I've seen you. You're no longer just a boy. Tell me, is my apprentice still asleep?"

Allen suddenly felt as if the floor disappeared beneath him and hoped that it wasn't too visible. He swallowed down his racing heart and politely greeted back with a small bow. The man could be so unnerving at times.

"Good morning, sir. How do you do?" He felt Kanda shuffle behind him. He discreetly reached for his hand and squeezed, calming the other one down before he could start flipping tables and spilling blood. "He is still asleep, I'm afraid. I-in the library. If you would excuse us, gentlemen," he said as politely as he could, "we're just fetching some food."

Dragging Kanda behind him, he retreated to the most secluded place in the hall.

"Care to elaborate?" Kanda asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Lavi is in deep shit."

* * *

Bookman nodded his thanks as he stood, offering another to Teidol for the tea, before he ambled stiffly towards the library where Lavi was still passed out amongst the pillows.

He sighed his exasperation as he surveyed the softly snoring younger man before sharply kicking his forehead with the toe of his boot, making Lavi reel and hiss.

"Wake up, you redheaded fool!" he snapped. "Honestly, getting so drunk and passing out on the floor in such a manner? What am I to do with you?"

"Damn it," Lavi ground out, his temple throbbing mercilessly. And for someone to _kick_ him in the _face_ on top of it. "I outta-!" His head snapped up and he froze, anger melting into surprise and his single eye going slightly wider. "P-Panda...?"

The hit to the top of his head sent his face into the wood floor.

"How many times do I have to tell you, you idiot?! Do not call me that!"

Unapologetic, Lavi ignored it as he rubbed his forehead, which pounded dizzyingly. "What-... uh... what're you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question," Bookman hissed, narrowing his eyes witheringly. "I thought I taught you better than this." Lavi had the proper sense not to appear guilty, but he still couldn't help but almost cower under the codger's harsh gaze. "Get up, and assemble yourself properly," he stated as he glanced over Lavi's disheveled form, turning and whisking out of the room.

The momentary absence didn't allow the redhead to relax at all as he staggered to his feet, wincing at how his temple pulsed, but he tried to ignore it and straightened out his clothing and hair to some semblance of tame. Bookman was waiting for him just within the main room, glancing at Allen and his immediate companions.

"I apologize for the disturbance, but I will need to borrow my student back from you for a short while. He and I have much we need to discuss," he said, his voice giving no indication that he was angry, but Lavi knew much, _much_ better than that.

Never the less, he offered up a smile of reassurance toward Allen that didn't quite reach all the way, more anxious than he was letting on at surface value.

"You just sit tight, ya? I'll be back in a jiffy."

Allen nodded stiffly with a very forced smile on his face, going back to his food. He only took a glance back when he was sure the Bookman Sr. lost his interest in them completely and anxiously stared at the redhead's retreating, broad back.

"Is he going to be a problem?" Kanda asked, silently but with a hue of anger. Allen glanced back, letting out a slow breath.

"Not for you," he said, "but somehow, I don't feel good about this." Whatever reason Bookman had to come back, it was surely not a petty one.

"Do I need to take care of him?"

Allen smiled, patting his arm. "He may be old, but he's better at martial arts than anyone I know. I'm afraid you won't be able _just take care of him_. Also, he is not interested in us."

The comment stung but Kanda nodded anyway and returned to his food. "You sure you're alright?"

"I might go check up on him later. Lavi, I mean." A pause. "Oh, don't be like that!"

"You slept with him tonight."

"You're being childish and unreasonable, and I didn't sleep _with_ him, I slept _on_ him. That's a big difference." He might have heard Kanda murmur something along the lines of ´not for me´ but he let it slip. After all, it was all his hangover talking. Or so he hoped, at least.

Allen put down his plate and stared at it with a worried look on his face. Kanda saw it but chose to stay silent and observe. It was clear that he wanted to bolt and the reason behind it was the rabbit and the old man who just left the den.

"I'm sorry," he said, dragging his hand through his hair, "I need to-"

And Kanda knew at the moment that there was no way of stopping him. So he let him go, watching him leave in hurried walk that screamed tension and worry, and after he finished his plate of food, Kanda swung his sword over his shoulder and stalked upstairs, laying into his bed to get more sleep. The sleep, however, didn't come easily - Allen was not the only one who felt bad about the situation.

Two bookmen in one place never meant anything good.

* * *

The fullness of the streets was more stifling to the redhead than usual, not one to feel very claustrophobic or agoraphobic - rather, he liked being the center of many people's attentions - but at the moment it was too much. Perhaps it was the hangover. Perhaps not. He reached up to massage his brow with a wince as a particularly strong wave hit him.

"I see you are still using that old, outdated name," Bookman hummed, sounding nonchalant, but Lavi wasn't fooled by the casual err.

"Well it's the name Allen knew me by in Italy and still calls me, so it seemed appropriate." The look that Bookman gave him over the shoulder told otherwise, but the man didn't comment.

Most of the rest of the walk was silent, but such was worse and he almost _wished_ Bookman would simply yell at him and be done with it, though his head would probably suffer even worse after drinking so much if he did.

He knew better than anyone else outside the Clan of Bookmen though exactly how massively in-trouble he might be. Bookman might not be screaming at the top of his lungs, but he didn't need to be. The threat was clear as day to him. The tentative privilege he'd earned to stand as a full-fledged Bookman in his own right was easily revocable if he was deemed unfit to follow the rules for any reason, and Allen - or more specifically, what Allen _meant_ to him - was reason enough.

Bookman stopped once they'd reached a secluded alley and turned to face his student with a familiar, stern look, the red-head having followed him in pure silence the entire way. Lavi didn't speak, waiting for Bookman to begin, since he was only _mostly_ sure of what the old man wanted with him.

"Who are we?" Bookman prompted abruptly, causing Lavi to blink for a moment in question. His mind was quick to catch on though and he slipped easily and automatically into the persona that he had been trained to be his entire life, losing all emotion. It was though a switch had been flipped, going from the warm, boisterous friend-to-all, to entirely cold and apathetic.

"We are the Bookmen," he began, reciting the words that had been drilled into him day after day until the mantra stuck permanently, word for word, droning out all sense of what most would consider 'humanity'. Bookman hadn't stopped teaching it to him until he'd heard it so many times that he'd started to recite it even in his sleep. "Without name; without home; without attachment."

"What do we do?"

"We watch, remember, record, and store everything we see, down to the finest detail. Nothing can be missed or overlooked. We do not become involved more than the mission requires. We are the audience to the world unfolding around us, giving up its secrets, but we are never actors in the play ourselves, only spectators."

"What is our purpose?"

"To record all that happens in the world, without judgment, personal bias, or being swayed by emotion. We record only pure fact. People; events; places; all is merely ink on paper, a story on a page, and we are the scribes that keep the books."

"And who are _you_?" Bookman continued without any pause.

"I am anyone I need to be, and I am no one. A witness without name, save for those I throw away when the mission is done. A recorder without identity, that walks outside the flow of history."

"And what does that _man_ mean to you?"

Lavi almost blinked in surprise. He almost hesitated. He almost questioned. That wasn't part of the recitation-

But he didn't do any of these things, because even the slightest shift would give him away. Instead he replied immediately and just as cold and uncaring as the recitations and oaths he'd memorized.

"Nothing at all. 'just another means to an end; another spot of ink in the pages of our books. He doesn't mean a single thing to me."

"Good." Bookman nodded, some of that critical disapproval having ebbed from his face. Years before, "Lavi" would not have managed to satisfy his mentor so easily, but he had been schooling himself since then, until he got it perfect. The years away from Allen, though not easy, had helped him reaffirm his convictions to his clan and become every bit the Bookman that his old man expected him to be.

And yet there was still that little prick in the back of his mind that knew better. Some part of him still failed to be that, still _felt_ something that he shouldn't, but he had years of practice in shoving it far, far away, somewhere unseen and unknown to anyone but himself, so that even his aged, experienced teacher could not detect it.

Bookman turned away, unspokenly showing that he had little more to say, reassured that his student could keep himself in check now, regardless of how badly he'd almost faltered when he was younger. Lavi followed his mentor as he began to walk again, giving "Lavi" a meaningful look.

"Do not get distracted and lose sight of your purpose here. You are an heir to Bookman. Nothing more or less than that."

"Of course I would never forget." He offered up a chillingly hollow smile. "C'mon gramps, give me a little credit. I'm better at my job then that. 'just playing up friendly and sociable like I always do." He huffed and folded his arms behind his head, looking bored. "After all, gathering information comes much easier if people consider you someone trustworthy and think you're their friend, right? Let you in on things they don't let anyone else know."

Bookman only hummed in acknowledgement, but there was a tone in there that hinted he might not fully believe it.

"The original plan was just to be here maybe a day or two, but they have one of The Pieces," Lavi continued seriously, lowering his voice slightly as they stopped. That caught Bookman's attention. "And you know we can't just leave it to other people."

Bookman hummed again thoughtfully. "Very well. If that's the nature of things. Just remember-"

"I know," Lavi interrupted. "It's not my business to become interwoven, no matter what side has the Apple. I'm just waiting to see how events unfold around it, until the smoke clears enough that I can get it. Beyond that, nothing else matters."

Bookman nodded his approval. They started to walk again.

"We've kept away now long enough. You should go back and continue your record, before your absence is too noticed."

Lavi nodded obediently. That same question and answer – _Who are you? A Bookman. Nothing more or less._ – kept buzzing in his mind, over and over, like an angry bee, but he didn't allow any sort of agitation or anxiety show.

It would be best to return quickly enough that nothing was suspected. Bookmen matters didn't really concern outsiders of the clan anyways, so it wouldn't do for them to probe with questions if he seemed off. He needed to slip back into the persona that was "Lavi". He'd just play it off as nothing big, just a little obligatory status update – which it sort of was, so it wasn't a _total_ lie – and go back to what they'd been doing before as if Bookman had never shown up to begin with.

Allen stood in the alley, unmoving and numb. The words, the cold words that Lavi recited without missing a single beat made his stomach churn and chest hurt. His heart was somewhere in his throat and if he could he would bite it in half and spit it out.

He watched as Lavi stalked backwards as if he just had a conversation about weather.

"Just a spot of ink in the pages of your books... Lavi," he said, wishing he could just throw up all the emotions that made his chest ache. He saw the other man tense and stop in his tracks. "Is this why you left like a whore after a good night's shift back then?"

Lavi's chest seized as he heard that voice, stopping and turning. He hadn't needed to, to know who it was, but a sense of inward panic tried to reason that it _wasn't Allen_. It _couldn't_ be. Not because it was physically impossible, but because he had said things that were not meant for his ears to hear.

 _Shit!_ How had he not noticed? Since when had he dropped his guard _that_ much? Or had he really been so anxious that his attention had been that drastically divided?

Bookman though... he _must_ have noticed.

 _He must have known._ That realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. Bookman had noticed. There was no way he couldn't have. The man may have been old, but his senses and intuition were sharp as ever and had _decades_ more experience on the redhead. Lavi had thought he'd had full control of the situation and been the one doing the fooling all along, but that couldn't be any further from the truth. How could he have been _that_ fucking stupid? To think he could best his mentor.

Bookman had deliberately been backing him into a corner he couldn't escape from all along, and he hadn't even noticed until he was effectively cut off. He had all of two choices.

Either he come out and tell the utmost truth, that he had merely said that to placate his mentor, that Allen _did_ mean something to him, a great deal in fact...

...or continue to play into his role as just another apathetic, cold Bookman, and destroy whatever bond they still had between them, probably forever.

And with Bookman standing _right there_ , scrutinizing him, that really only narrowed it down to one choice.

He didn't let any of these inner thoughts change his outward demeanor, as if Allen's appearance and words garnered no reaction, even though he was absolutely reeling. He was about to break Allen's heart - _again_ \- but he didn't have any other option. There were heavy consequences that would come with truthful admission, and letting his eyes and his body signals tell a different story than his words would be just as damning, so he blocked those off too, becoming an impenetrable fortress of apathy and hollow indifference.

"Well, damn, so much for that ploy. It isn't really nice to eavesdrop, you know. And here I thought you trusted me more than that."

Maybe it was better this way. A blessing, of sorts, in disguise. A very sick, twisted kind. He really did need to distance himself. Just coming back... seeking Allen out again after that 'record' in Italy had closed, had been a breach of the Clan's rules in and of itself.

With the way that events were unfolding, and their possession of the Apple, though, he wasn't going to be forced to leave until this record was finished. He knew, without words exchanged, that these were the conditions of finishing what he'd started here.

He could stay to complete this record, but he was going to have to play it by the rules _to the letter_ this time, or he wasn't going to play at all.

And that meant severing whatever trust and love Allen still held for him, without remorse. No matter how painful it was for either of them.

Allen felt as if someone had punched a hole through him and he found himself momentarily gasping for air.

The face Lavi was making - rigid and emotionless - was that his true self? Has everything that has happened between them, everything they lived through, every touch and affection, has that been all just a cruel lie?

"Tell me you're joking," he heard himself say in a pathetically small voice. "Tell me it is just a bad joke. That I am not just a piece of history reduced to scribbles on your paper." When he heard him recite his _those things_ just a while ago, he still felt as if it was just a farce but now that he saw his eye - his empty, cold eye- he felt nothing but betrayed. The unpleasant ache in his chest felt like rusted knife.

Lavi only bore a smile that was all too unaffected. It was really all he could do to keep from shattering at the tone and look that Allen gave him, but he could not offer up any words of comfort or care as he wanted to. Maybe Allen would have understood if he could explain, that it was not truly that he didn't feel for the other man, but emotion was not a luxury he could afford.

"Sorry, but that's the whole truth of it. It's nothing personal, of course, just business." He shrugged flippantly. "I did tell you to stay put until I came back. You could have at least kept your naïve delusions then, but no point in pretending now that the cat's out of the bag."

Allen felt a second punch to his chest. He gaped at the redhead with mouth gaping.

"Are you-" He took a breath to steady himself. "Lavi, this is a sick joke, please, cut it out!" The world spun around him when the only answer he received was silence.

He suddenly felt dirty.

´ _Yeah, but I'm_ your _cuddlewhore..._ ´

He recalled what happened yesterday and it made him hurt even more. The words, the affection, everything a big fucking lie. His face twisted in disgust. He also remembered their kiss - all of them, and the nights they spent together.

_`He doesn't mean a single thing to me.`_

"After all that happened... just how could you?!" Allen whispered as he slowly shook his head and backed away. He felt weak, angry and just _violated_. He thought they were friends, that they were even lovers at some point!

Allen felt the wind whip his face but he couldn't bear to turn around. The next thing he knew, he was kneeling on the top of Galata Tower and crying his eyes out.

* * *

Lavi didn't move. Even when Allen demanded he give a different answer and broke into tears, outwardly, he didn't even flinch. Not with Bookman's eyes still on him, simply waiting for something to slip. He knew that if he waited too long, hesitated at all, that would give him away as well, so he played it off with the casual abruptness of someone merely swatting away a gnat that buzzed in the edge of their vision.

"Well that was unfortunate. You might have just made my job a little harder." He shrugged again and turned to head back towards the den. "Nothing to be done for it now, though. Oh well."

He and Bookman soon parted ways, but he didn't let his outward appearance drop even so. He wasn't entirely sure how long Bookman had been watching, but he knew it was since at least last night, recalling the feeling that had been nagging at him before. There was no telling how long Bookman might plan to stay somewhere nearby and watch him, so he would have to tread more carefully for a while about how he acted around the others. Especially Allen, though where that was concerned...

_You might not have to worry at all, after what you just put him through._

He'd probably get a good mouthful of screaming to get out as soon as he entered the den. Allen could be fairly emotional on a normal standard, but now?

* * *

Kanda tossed in the bed for a while and just when he was about to fall into the dream world, he jerked awake. It happened several times - he just couldn't fall asleep, no matter how much he tried. So he sat up on the bed and crossed his legs, putting his hands in his lap and straightening his back. Breathe in, breathe out.

He couldn't meditate, he couldn't concentrate, and he couldn't sleep. Just what the fuck was that all about?

Two bookmen in a city - flocking together like vultures around a cadaver. Why? he turned around and glanced out of the window, scowling briefly. Lavi was coming back, but he was alone. He scanned the streets and roofs. Not a single spot of white.

When he heard the steps on the stairs he stalked outside and over to the library, finding the redhead there. Turning his head to the side he listened, but he could hear no greetings, no hurried steps on the stairs or ringing laughter.

Then he noticed: Lavi was ignoring him.

"Where is he?" Kanda asked, squinting at the back of the younger bookman's back.

That gave the bookman a moment of pause, though he didn't spare it more than that as he went about putting things back in order and collecting what few things he'd brought from his own place.

"He went running on ahead of me," he stated, wondering just how much he should say. "He didn't come back on his own?" he mused, hiding his surprise behind a tone of disinterest.

If he hadn't come back to the Galata den - and Lavi had been almost certain he would, if nothing else then to seek out companionship from Kanda - then where else could he have gone? Especially now of all times?

"Did he?" Kanda asked slowly but retreated downstairs for a smoke.

Something definitely happened.

He sat down on the pillows opposite the door so he would have a good view on whoever is coming and waited. The redhead seemed edgy - his back was straighter and voice emptier than usually. Allen left all worried sick for him and Lavi returned alone. He drummed his finger on his leg.

What the fuck is going on?!

Kanda stood up, looking around. "Let me know if Walker comes, I'm going out." He said to one of the men who gave him a weird look but nodded withtout hesitation.  
With a last around the den, he left to search the city. They were both right with the bad feeling.

He perched himself on the nearby chimneys and looked around. Where could that beansprout be? He went to their usual inn, checked the whorehouse and the blacksmith, ran around the gardens and still nothing. Kanda sighed. This was starting to get annoying.

There was a sound of eagle crying up in the sky and he looked up, searching for the bird. Nobody came looking for it so it meant the sprout hasn't returned yet.

Kanda was about to jump down when his eyes fell on the high blue roof of Galata Tower.

"You've got to be kidding me!" He cursed when he spotted a fleck of white on the side.

* * *

"Hey idiot," he called, heaving himself upwards to sit on the edge of the tower, "the heck are you doing here?" He waited for the answer but he received none.

Allen was leaning on the wall, his arms around him and his face buried between his knees. With an annoyed sigh, Kanda knelt next to him and shook him gently.

"Hey, stop being an ass- oi. What's wr-" He almost fell down when Allen just slid to the side, unconscious and bloody.


	32. Begrudged Helplessness

"GET A PHYSICIAN!" Kanda bellowed when he kicked down the door on the den, "HURRY!" The men scurried away as he half-ran upstairs, Allen in his arms. He laid the white-haired man on the bed and undid his shirt, cursing loudly when he found his chest completely bruised.

"Fuck!" Bak said that his condition could get worse but not this soon and not so suddenly! What the hell was going on?!

"Kanda," Allen stirred awake, clawing at his chest.

"What the fuck happened?!" The swordsman demanded but Allen's only reply was a weak smile and a shake of his head.

"I'm alright."

Oh, he hated that sentence.

Having heard and spied Kanda returning carrying Allen and his words, the redhead was quick to appear as the doorway of the library as Kanda whisked by, single mossy eye watching the man take the stairs to the room he and Allen shared.

There as an admitted sinking feeling edging into his chest and he was brisk to follow, where Kanda laid Allen out on the bed. From Kanda's words and the sight, at least it wasn't something like wounds from an attack by Apollo or some other enemy, though that was a marginal comfort at best.

"The after-effects from the Apple again...?"

"They shouldn't be back this soon! He fucking said he has more time!" Kanda raged and it was visible that he was at the end of what to do.

"I'm fine, Kanda, stop worrying," Allen croaked with pained smile, struggling to sit up. "Honestly, it's fine. Doesn't even hurt like before," he said, deliberately ignoring the redhead.

"Calm down," Lavi told Kanda as he circled around the other side of the bed. "Getting worked up won't solve anything. Let me take a look."

As Lavi reached forward to check on Allen's wounds, the white haired man slapped his hand away as if it was burning and stared ahead with an empty expression. Kanda stilled, watching his partner with a slightly startled look.

"Lavi, please don't touch me, it makes me feel dirty," he said in a calm voice.

Kanda's eyes slowly moved to the redhead.

Lavi looked surprised for a moment though less so than Kanda and recovered from it more quickly, shaking his head seriously and having to put a lot of effort toward keeping his voice level.

"This isn't a time to start being stubborn. You're bleeding internally, which could be _fatal_ if left alone. Do you understand that?"

"Why do you care?" Allen asked levelly with a faint smile. From the corner of his eye, he could see Kanda slowly reach for his sword. "Put that down," he pleaded, shaking his head, "and lead him out of here."

"The physician is here!" someone shouted form downstairs.

Lavi squared his jaw, looking for a moment like he wanted to argue, but he didn't. The announcement that a doctor was there gave him excuse enough not to and instead his simply shrugged coldly, turning away with a subtle huff.

"Fine, have it your way."

Even as he walked from the room briskly, he knew he had no one to blame but himself, not even his old mentor. He'd known the rules since he was a child, and he'd broken them. This was the result, and it was his own damn fault for not keeping a proper distance like he was supposed to from the start.

Kanda threw a last questioning look at Allen and ran after the redhead, grabbing his arm when they reached the stairs.

"What the fuck happened?" he growled and dropped his hand when he felt himself shake in anger. "What did you do to him?"

"I didn't _do_ anything to him," Lavi stated, looking serious but otherwise guarded and cold, not trusting his tempestuous emotions to stay in check otherwise. "I didn't even put a finger on him, so you can stop bristling and baring your fangs at me."

Kanda stared at him for a while in surprise and then grinned. "Well, well. Someone put down his mask," he said maliciously, "but in any case, I hope to God you didn't put a finger on him because if I find out _that_ reaction was evincible by something you _did_ , I'm going to gut you like a pig." He heard his name called then and spun on his heel, marching back to his room.

Lavi only watched him leave, unconcerned.

 _`Someone put down his mask`_? Ha! If only. It would be so much simpler then, if that had been all it was this whole time.

That made him pause for a moment in contemplation. How much of it _had_ been just a mask? When he thought back on it, it was hard to say. Difficult to separate what had been sincerity and lie. Had he really gotten so comfortable with this persona that he'd lost track?

Was "Lavi" even the mask anymore, or was "Bookman" truly the falsity?

For some reason, that agitated him, and he finally moved to finish with his things and leave for his own place, less because he wasn't very welcomed and more because he had enough of the space and he needed his own.

The street still felt too crowded and stifling, the sun too hot on his back and salty breeze too frigid against exposed skin. He couldn't possibly reach his quarters fast enough, but he forced himself not to run or move with any notable swiftness, still feeling watched and judged and entirely uncertain if he was or he was simply being paranoid.

If he had been someone with less practice in appearing unaffected and keeping a firm grasp on his self-control, he might have fumbled with the key to get in, but was glad for managing to keep his hand steady long enough to slide the key in and unlock his door to slip inside.

The silence and total solitude of his room when the door shut was a far too welcomed comfort as he finally exhaled a shuddering breath, closing his eye wearily and his back against the door sliding downward toward the floor in defeat. His head still pulsed with the lingering effect of a hangover, but it was nothing but an annoying flick compared to the ache burning his chest like a hungry wildfire. The pressure of his knee where he rested his head helped somewhat, but not by much as he let tears finally flow unchecked.

He could have blamed and cursed a lot of things for this; his old man, his clan's damn rules, the world at large, but all of them would've merely been scapegoats for choices _he_ had made for himself. He wouldn't make excuses, either to himself or Allen. He had been responsible for how to conduct himself, and he'd chosen rather poorly.

The one person in the world he wanted to hurt the least, that he even had a sharpened desire to _protect_ , and yet he had hurt him more than most anyone else ever could, not once, but twice over. He really was the lowest kind of person.

* * *

"What was that about?" Kanda asked suspiciously. "Did he do something to you?"

Allen laughed weakly as he waved at the leaving physician. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Kanda took a steadying breath and closed the door. He contemplated about asking further, but he knew that he won't be getting any answers just yet. Nothing, his ass. They were best buddies just hours ago and now...?

"What did the doctor say?" he asked instead and sat on the edge of his bed.

"Nothing I didn't already know," Allen answered with an amused smile and tugged at Kanda's sleeve, urging him to lie down. "Everything is as it should be." He nestled his head on the swordsman's shoulder. Kanda held his breath, hoping to hear more. "Don't kill him, though." Well, never mind. Looks like the conversation was over.

Kanda squirmed into a better position and closed his eyes.

Even despite the fact that his deepest wishes were just granted and the annoying double-faced bookman was more-or-less gone, he still couldn't fall asleep.

Somehow, he felt like things were about to get much worse.

* * *

The morning after, though, Lavi was back again, same easygoing smile on his face and toting along breakfast composed once more of a number of herbs that he figured might help with Allen's condition.

It wasn't like Allen knew anything about said herbs to be suspicious about those anyway, and he didn't know the white-haired man to be one to turn down food unless there was a good reason to avoid it.

He sauntered up the steps towards Kanda's room and balanced the tray on one shoulder to knock, but hesitated before he could follow through, instead ending up standing just outside with a fist poised for several beats.

Would Allen even care to see him...? Likely not. He probably wouldn't want to either if he had been in the white-haired man's shoes, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to stand being looked at the same as the day before all over again. Allen might even still be pissed enough at him to refuse his food, which would be bad for his health considering that no one else seemed to have the foresight to make him anything specifically beneficial to treating his injuries outside of occasional doctor's visits.

He bit his lip in indecision and settled instead for leaving the tray just to the side of the door, mindful to stay quiet, before excusing himself back downstairs. They would have to come out eventually, anyway, and he didn't think both would miss sight of it.

* * *

"How is it even possible?!" echoed throughout the den when Kanda stormed in. "We have doubled the patrols and even the Byzantines are on our side and still nobody saw anything!" Kanda raged as he powerwalked into the main hall, squeezing the bridge of his nose. "What is he? A fucking magician?"

"Calm down, this won't solve anything," Allen pleaded tiredly, stepping aside from the door so that other assassins could come in.

They had a miserable morning. One of Kanda's men came to wake them up, bringing news about another murder, so they were out since before the dawn, hunting a shadow. Nobody saw anyone, nobody heard anything, they only found a body of the assassin that was guarding Faulklin's house. The boy himself was alright - they found him three blocks away hiding in a barrel - but nobody saw Apollo or anyone else.

"You are going upstairs right now," Kanda thrust out his finger towards the stairs for emphasis, "or else-"

"What?" Allen interrupted, his voice full of irritation. "Stop it! You don't control me! And raging won't help you do anything, so calm down already!"

"Don't tell me to calm down when my men are falling like flies!" Kanda roared angrily. The men around them awkwardly exchanged looks and tried to clear up the room before any of them could come to harm. Arguments between those two never ended well for anybody. "All this work we put into securing the city and each other is falling apart because of one fucking man! How the fuck do you think that makes me feel?"

"I know!" Allen screamed in return, stomping his foot. "-but screaming at everyone like a madman won't help us! How do you think _that_ makes your men feel? Stop being a dick and calm down! Everyone is trying to help you! You can't hunt him alone! Putting your neck out for everyone else won't help us when you're gone!"

"I am the only one here who can hunt him on his own!"

"Shut up!" Allen yelled, grabbing the nearest thing - what turned out to be a hookah - and hauled him at the black-haired swordsman who dodged it without any problem.

"Go upstairs and rest!" Kanda growled menacingly, his hand twitching. He knew they couldn't get physical, not now when Allen's condition is so rapidly deteriorating.

"Don't tell me what to do!" the white-haired man screamed back already on his way to their room.

There was a collective sigh in the hall after Kanda collected the pieces of the hookah Allen tossed at him and plopped down on a pillow, trying to fix the thing.

It was all hard to miss for the redhead even from the other room of the library. Occupying himself with a book was quickly forgotten as screaming and glass shattering reached his ears and made him glance up, quietly slipping a book back onto its shelf before he sauntered to the doorway, stopping just before it to listen.

It was somewhat of a surprise to have Allen be the one to storm upstairs in a fit rather than Kanda for once, but he could have a temper that was truthfully worse on occasion when he did lose the patience to remain even forcibly polite.

Better to just stay out of his way for the moment, especially for him.

Sauntering into the main room, he gave a low whistle as he saw what Allen had thrown as Kanda tried to fix it.

"You know its probably better to just toss that. Messing with broken glass will just end up with cut fingers and little to show for it," he warned, plopping down on an opposite end of the table casually, propping his chin on one hand, before jumping straight back to business. "Apollo struck again?"

"Shut up," Kanda growled, his hands visibly shaking with rage. "Just shut up. Be silent." He flexed his hands into fists and threw the poor hookah to the side, sighing. He looked tired and stressed and there were darks circles under his eyes. He squeezed the bridge of the nose and dragged the hand down his face. "Yeah, he did," he answered but it was evident that it was not the only thing that was bothering him.

Lavi merely hummed, obeying the command to stay silent for only a short while as he watched Kanda from the corner of his eye. It wasn't hard to figure out what was bothering him besides just the loose, difficult-to-find murderer.

"You're also worried about Allen's condition?" he stated more than asked.

Kanda gave him a meaningful frown and slumped in his seat.

"I'm so tired," he whispered but it might as well have been Lavi's imagination. "Anyway, he still won't tell me what you did, and for some reason, I find it more disturbing than ever." He stared into the bookman's single emerald eye. "I hope it has nothing to do with his rapidly deteriorating health."

"I told you, I didn't do anything," Lavi hummed, eye flicking away elsewhere and casting a smile that didn't reach all the way. "He just found out 'friendly' doesn't equal 'friends' when it comes to Bookmen, that's all. To put it in your words, he can be quite naïve sometimes."

Kanda mutely shook his head, just looking more tired than before.

"Great fucking job, idiot. This will totally help us now." He stood up and walked away, not able to bear to be in the redhead's vicinity anymore. First time in his life, he really didn't know what to do with the situation.

"Hey, I'm not the one who decided to eavesdrop where he shouldn't of been," Lavi tossed.

If Kanda's words hadn't managed to add an extra thorn to the guilt he already felt, his own words certainly did, but what else was he supposed to do? He was a Bookman before he was anything else. As far as the Clan and his mentor would be concerned, he was already treading over very thin ice just by _being_ here.

After a moment, he added before Kanda could disappear entirely, "I might know something that'd help his condition, that you could do."

Kanda paused just as his foot touched the first step. He looked over his shoulder, tilting his head. "Are you trying to save him now? Or redeem yourself?"

"Neither," Lavi shrugged and sat back, and really it was only a half-lie. "But even a Bookman has to earn their keep somehow, assuming we expect our presences to be welcomed, or at the very least tolerated, so we can do our jobs, and information is a Bookman's most valuable currency. What you do with that information, that's your business, not mine." He paused and hummed a moment. "Although now come to think of it, there is something you could do for me, as a trade of sorts. You're fully free to refuse, of course."

Kanda stared at him for a long while before his head did some involuntarily half jerk - as if he has been pricked by a needle. "If that is really how you feel, then your services are not needed here. You'd do more harm than good."

"Well from my vantage, it appears you and your guys need a lot more help than your pride is willing to admit," Lavi hummed.

Kanda turned around to go, but stopped himself again, only slightly turning his head this time. "Can you even bare to look at yourself in the mirror?"

The redhead blinked at Kanda's question. Was that supposed to be a sincere question, or was he merely trying to gauge a reaction? He only offered up a grin, not one to let such insults towards his character affect him, especially not when his profession entailed witnessing just how ugly humans could be towards each other, one gruesome event after another.

"Of course! Who wouldn't want to glimpse this handsome mug o' mine?" He kidded. Sobering somewhat, he continued, in a voice low enough that Kanda would hear but it wouldn't carry much further. "Next time you brew a tea, try using Yarrow and Perennial Foxglove in the brew. It won't cure him, but it should help, especially with the internal bleeding."

And with how upset Allen was with him, he didn't foresee the white-haired man accepting the tea he'd been making anymore. In this way, he could still see to it that Allen was being taken care of, and he didn't think Kanda would ignore the advice when it had to do with his lover's failing health.

Kanda huffed and climbed the stairs, not looking back. He couldn't help himself but to shout back at the redhead to clean up his mess - and by mess he meant the food he brought to Allen, who still outwardly refused to acknowledge the redhead's existence - but Kanda knew he was only trying to cope with whatever happened on his own. Knowing the beansprout, he definitely didn't stop caring - which made things worse for him.

He just couldn't let go, no matter how hard he tried to contradict himself with his actions.

Kanda took the advice and brewed the herbs the bookman told him to, but only because he hoped it would really help the sprout's health.

Allen though, stubbornly kept on insisting nothing was wrong and that he didn't hurt, but Kanda knew better. Even if it was only because of how he's seen the man stumble from time to time when he walked.

He still didn't know what to do and he hated it. He loathed himself for it. Just as he loathed the fact that Apollo kept happily strolling through the city, murdering his men as if they were just infants.


	33. Carousel

Another week. Another two bodies with only a buffer of a couple days in between each murder.

Lavi was spending less time around Allen and Kanda during the daytime and more of the night with doing his own investigating, whether it be pouring over information in the library or trying rumors about the city.

He had a general idea of the city's networked layout of informants and who to talk to, but their information was only so good as what they saw or heard themselves. Something that was becoming quite apparent to him was that 'careful' was a rather insufficient word for describing Apollo.

No one seemed to have seen anything. If they had, and they were lying - paid to keep silent, perhaps - then they were good enough to fool his eyes and ears, and that took someone of incredible skill to pull off fooling a Bookman.

None the less, the man had to slip at some point. Someone had to know. It was a matter of time, patience, and connections. The Assassins already had the Byzantines on their side. Now they needed to win allies with some of the more underground sources, something that - even if the man was charismatic enough to gain - Kanda was too busy to bother with between his patrols and Allen.

On the plus side, making himself unwanted and scarce at the den gave Lavi opportunity to investigate freely around the city without having to worry about Allen tailing him around 'just in case' and making himself a very fine target, especially in his condition.

Word travelled quickly, of course, so it was difficult not to hear about another dead Assassin in the city to go and investigate, hoping to catch some glimpse of evidence or a witness. Less than coincidentally, he found Kanda and Allen there about the same time as he arrived, glancing over the blood-stained corpse left for them to find and with no aforementioned murderer in sight, as if to taunt them.

"Apollo again, hm?" Lavi mused as he walked up to meet them, making it a point to keep at least an arm's length of distance between him and Kanda, since the swordsman always bordered on exploding completely at every incident.

Allen made a noise that was something between agreement and whine, his eyes trained on the corpse. It was visible that he was a little bit out of it, frowning at the corpse and clenching his jaw. He looked just as tired as Kanda did, though the other man was better at hiding it.

Kanda went on sending his men to scout the area and ask around if anyone saw anything, even though he knew they wouldn't learn anything new. Allen knelt down and carefully looked at the wounds.

"Something's different," he said, more for himself than the others as he fingered the laceration on the man's neck. "The wounds are just as vicious, but they feel different. As if he was drunk or..." he trailed off.

Kanda watched him with a carefully neutral expression before glancing at Lavi.

Lavi hummed, his eye trailing over the wounds as Allen inspected them.

"They're sloppier than his usual work," the redhead agreed, crossing his arms. "Maybe he had less time to work without witnesses? Or..." He trailed off, playing with a few theories. "Maybe there even _was_ a witness..." he murmured in contemplation.

Allen stood up, biting his lip. "There was a witness," he paused, snapping out of his thoughts and looking at Kanda. "What do they have in common?"

The swordsman turned around, glancing at the corpse. "All except one were sent to keep an eye on that brat of yours or at the area around his house," he said, frowning.

"This one breaks pattern, too," Lavi hummed, placing a hand to his chin in thought. "Weren't most of Apollo's kills during the night and early morning? Could be that..." He paused a moment, glancing at the other two in question. "...he might have gained some allies to help him, unless he's trying to throw us for a loop on purpose. Give us a false bone to chew on for a while."

"Maybe," Kanda hummed, looking around the roofs, "but why so suddenly? It is still the same as before, though - well at least from a certain point when his kills started to get sloppy."

"But why?" Allen interrupted, looking like he was going to say something but decided against it, which made the swordsman frown.

Kanda heaved a sigh. "Maybe that little brat knows more than he's willing to tell us." He caught Lavi's eye for a second and spoke again. "Let's pay him a little visit, shall we?"

Lavi nodded. "I think we should tread carefully though. Last time he broke pattern, Apollo led us into that trap. Best we not repeat the same mistake," he cautioned, briefly glancing toward Allen meaningfully as he fell into step towards where Faulklin was staying.

They made their way to the house mostly in silence.

Allen stubbornly stared ahead, only muttering apologies when he occasionally bumped into someone on the crowded streets and Kanda was skinning every who dared to get too close to him with his eyes.

"Stop worrying," Kanda said, seeing that the whitehead was clenching his fists on his sides while pretending not to have heard his partner. Kanda sighed and glanced behind, making sure Lavi was keeping his pace.

He noticed few of his men on the roofs above and was glad to find that the signals they gave him were only positive.

Allen picked up his pace when they were on the right street and came to an abrupt halt in front of the small house with shabby door where Faulklin lived. He tentatively knocked on the door.

"Hey kiddo, are you there?" he asked, forcing his voice to sound as even and carefree as possible. When there was no answer he dared to open the door and walk into the dark room. "Faulklin? Are you alright?"

The boy glanced sidelong at the door from where he sat on the bed of the small house, single remaining eye briefly surveying the three men before it trailed somewhere off to the side at a wall in an aloof, disinterested manner.

He merely hummed a response at first, gnawing his lower lip, before finally finding his voice, having to ponder his wording for a moment so as not to come across as rude.

" 'something you want?"

"We just wanted to make sure you´re alright," Allen started, putting on his disarming nothing-in-the-world-is-wrong smile that didn´t seem to affect the kid, "so, how are you?" The whitehead asked cheerfully, not wanting to jump straight to the point which made Kanda edgy.

" 'fine," the kid answered, appearing to look at other things in the room that he seemed to decide were more interesting, though he was still making it a point to keep them in his peripheral vision.

"Still as sociable as ever, I see," Lavi hummed amusement, taking up a spot on the wall to lean against.

"How are your wounds?" Allen continued, briefly giving Kanda a look that said ´make yourself comfortable´.

"They're healing," Faulklin shrugged indifferently. He absently traced his fingers over the puckered flesh of the larger scar remaining on his left cheek. "Most of it anyway."

The white haired man smiled, his eyes momentarily flickering towards the two other men in the room. He suppressed the sigh that was threatened to come out of his mouth. Allen really wished the boy would be more talkative.

"Have you, by any chance, noticed anything out of place? Like anyone following you?"

Faulklin shook his head. "Only your guys. 'don't leave much though. Not with the shop closed." Pausing to stifle a yawn, he added, " 'been tired, with my wounds healing, too. Jus' stay here most o' the time."

Kanda sighed - a clear sign that his partner was wasting time - but Allen ignored him.

"Aren't you bored here?" the whitehead piped in, fingering the dagger on his hip.

Faulklin shrugged again noncommittally. "I guess. 's been quiet though." Even as he spoke, his single eye wandered to the dagger at the man's side, drawn by the movement of Allen's hand, and he fidgeted away somewhat with a hint of wariness about him.

Allen almost sighed at the child's skittishness. "I was wondering, maybe you could have a look at my blades? They could use a little maintenance. Could you do that for me?" he asked with a sweet smile, adding a pouty ´please´ afterwards.

Kanda mutely shook his head. What an idiot. Always the child he is...

Faulklin looked thoughtful for a moment, gnawing his lip, then nodded.

"I can look," he answered finally, after many beats of silence. " 'not really a blacksmith's apprentice anymore though, since that man 's no longer around. Dunno how useful I'd be."

"You must have learnt something," the white-haired man winked, straightening up. "I'll leave my blades here and you have a look at them, alright? I'll come by tomorrow or so and then you can tell me what you're going to need to take care of them. I'll bring some tea," he trailed of cheerfully, undoing the belt with his knives and putting it on the table. "Do tell me if you need anything else, maybe I can get it tomorrow."

Faulklin stared after the man for several moments, silently contemplating something, before he simply nodded and instead shifting his focus to the smaller blades.

"Alright."

Allen watched him, curiously, not knowing what to do at first. "Do you...?" He paused. "Never mind." He turned to the other two men but they didn't look very keen on helping. "Faulklin," he spoke silently, watching the boy with an unsure expression. "Do tell us if there is anything out of order." He sighed," be safe."

Faulklin merely hummed acknowledgment, occupying his attention on other things. Lavi remained the silent observer and leaned off the wall when Allen made his exit from the small building.

Even after their having saved the kid and treated his wounds, it seemed they weren't any more trusted than before. Something he couldn't quite place made the back of his neck tingle, the redhead absently reaching a hand back to massage his nape and pausing to glance behind him, looking speculative.

"Well, that was a waste of time," Kanda said suddenly, not really trying to hide his irritation. "If I had asked him-"

"Oh yeah?!" Allen jumped in. "You would have scared him and we still wouldn't be much smarter than we are now!"

"You don't know that!" Kanda retorted, a little bit defensive. "Anyway, we still don't know anything. I should have done it my way," the swordsman grumbled under his breath.

Allen was muttering curses on his own, still absolutely oblivious to Lavi's existence. "You should put more guards around." He continued with a heavy sigh, "we need to keep him safe - that is the least we can do for him after what happened," he added quickly when he saw that Kanda had already his protest on the edge of his tongue.

"Or we could try an alternative," Lavi suggested off-handedly, hoping to keep tempers low. "It's just a guess, but Apollo might be trying to spread us thin. The more guys are sent here and there across town for small things like this, the easier it'll be in the long run for him to pick 'em off, one by one." He shrugged, not appearing to care either way, offered advice not withstanding. "If present strategies aren't working, the obvious route is switch to something else that will."

Allen took a deep, calming breath while Kanda eyed the redhead with interest. He squinted momentarily before a feral grin bloomed on his face.

"How about we give him what he wants?" he started, his eyes moving to his white-haired partner who stared back at him with a frown.

"I'm not sure what you mean," Allen said carefully.

"He's after you and the apple, so you'll go babysit the brat."

"Isn't that a bit risky?" Lavi pointed out, giving it a bit of calculation.

Before Kanda could say anything, Allen interrupted him, looking disturbingly hopeful.

"No," he gasped. "No, that's perfect."

"Shut up," Kanda silenced him sternly, giving him a dark scowl. He knew exactly what the other had in mind and he hated it. Kanda turned back to Lavi, ignoring his suicidal lover. "It's not, because I'm going to be there, too."

"Be that as it may," Lavi hummed, hiding his own displeasure at Allen's sudden shift in attitude. He knew all too well when to be worried about Allen's choice of actions and now was looking increasingly like one of those times. "We're dealing with a tough opponent here. Apollo may be bold, but he's not dumb. We're going to need a more complex strategy than just _`throw some bait down and hope he shows`_. No offense, but you both play strategy like checkers, and you can't do that with someone who has strategy perfected like a master of chess."

Kanda shrugged. "The master of chess has shaky hands. He's been waiting for a good opportunity for way too long. And I think the fact that we turned the Byzantines on our side slapped his ego and crossed his plans a little bit too roughly."

"I'm not as sure about that as you seem to be," Lavi returned, glancing over his shoulder. "There are a few things I'm not sure of, actually. Something about that kid and his skittishness... I dunno, he bugs me, but I can't place why. Don't you think its a little weird though? That out of everyone Apollo's targeted, he's the only one to survive? Not just once, either. For some reason, I get the feeling it wasn't by accident. Apollo had a reason for it."

"He loves to torture people," Allen said, his frown pointed at the ground. "He takes pleasure in it. Maybe that's why he's scaring him so much."

"Maybe, but I think we should proceed carefully," the redhead cautioned. "It's one thing to take pleasure in that sort of thing for the pure sake of it, but when someone like that has bigger priorities, I doubt its as simple as that. While we're trying to use Faulklin as bait to get Apollo, all along, whether knowing or unknowingly, Apollo might already be using him for that role against us himself." He paused, shrugging nonchalantly. "Don't be reckless about it, which you have a tendency to do. That's all I'm saying."

" _He_ will not be the bait." Allen said, first time after a long time staring Lavi in the eye with a burning determination.

"Stop glaring, he's right," Kanda intervened, flicking Allen's forehead. "Don't you dare to pull some shit without thinking," he warned to which Allen answered with a stuck out tongue and an angry huff.

"I won't, don't worry. Not now when we have the chance to end everything."

"Except you haven't been in the best condition lately," Lavi felt the need to point out. "Even before that Apple messed you up, we had a hard time of taking him on. Don't forget that. The possibility of taking him out has been slim so far, even between the three of us, and all of the den, and with the Byzantines on our side, and if you die and he survives, someone like him doesn't stop just because one thorn is out of his side. You have to look at the big picture, not only the here-and-now." He shrugged, looking perfectly the part of someone who didn't care either way. "I'm not saying don't go through with your plans, I'm just saying be smart about it. You can't afford mistakes at this point, and there have been a lot of them before now."

Allen looked as if he was about to tear the redhead's face off any second. "I'm fine! I can handle myself," he growled and sped up, not trusting himself at that moment. Kanda flinched at the words as if they had physically struck him and clenched his jaw.

Much Lavi's surprise however, he didn't comment on that. Hiss face said it all anyway.

Kanda watched Allen jump on the rooftop, sparing only a single glance back at the two men before dashing away towards the den. When he was out of sight, Kanda's shoulders slumped down.

"So, what's the big plan?" He asked.

Lavi had to resist sighing, mainly because that would hint that he might actually give a damn about the outcome.

"Well, you might not particularly like what I have to suggest," he warned. "But it could mean the difference between one death and several. If we can gain access to one of the other buildings around where Faulklin is staying that has a window, especially one of those grated windows, we could watch while remaining hidden, and wait until Apollo shows up to pick off another guard. Its a tactic we haven't tried yet, so he probably won't even think to expect it, and people change their behaviors when they don't know or suspect they're under watch. We'll use that to our advantage to get the jump on him. Taking him by surprise and unprepared is our best bet towards beating him."

Kanda nodded mutely, resigned. It was evident that the man was worn out and tired but did the best to cover it up.

"I'm going to get more men tonight. Meet me near the new smithy at midnight," he said and turned around to leave too, pausing after two steps. "Oh, and, don't talk to him," he said. "Just shut up. You're making it worse and I have enough things to worry about at this point."

"Just tryin' to help," Lavi shrugged, pushing his own Allen-related frustrations aside. It wouldn't do him any good to dwell on them anyway. "If Allen was someone who could think with his head instead of his reckless emotions, maybe he would realize that, instead of taking everything he doesn't want to hear as a personal offense."

"You can help by planning, so leave him alone."

After they returned to the den, Kanda found Allen in the underground, going through his weapon stash.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" the black-haired man asked when he saw his partner inspecting his broadsword. He leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms on his chest.

"It does," Allen answered with a soft smile on his lips. He stood up, holding the long silvery sword in front of him. Kanda could see how much will it took him to still his trembling hands. The white-head slowly lowered the tip on the ground, bowing his head with a heavy sigh.

"It's gonna be better," Kanda said, but his voice sounded less assuring than he wanted it to be.

Allen huffed a dry laugh and sheathed the heavy sword, putting it back on the rack and taking his spare daggers instead. "Yeah, maybe after tomorrow..."

"Just don't do anything stupid, idiot."

 


	34. Conflicting Views

Two days dragged on with little to show for it. They went ahead with their planning to stake out Faulklin's place in one of the adjacent buildings, while Allen spent much of that time in the house itself with the boy, but Apollo was a no-show so far.

Lavi knew the value of patience though. Their enemy had been building up a kill streak recently and he didn't see that changing if the man thought he could do so and get away with it. Likely it was only a matter of time before there was another attack, they simply had to wait for it.

So, productive or otherwise, they waited, taking turns rotating watch at the window periodically.

Inside the smaller home, Faulklin indulged Allen's company, though with somewhat of an err of passive reluctance, only interacting as much as was required of him and otherwise retaining his same skittish quiet as he always seemed to have.

"I don't like this silence," Kanda murmured from his spot against his wall as he carefully stared from the shadows at the opposite house. "Something's definitely off."

"Yeah," Lavi agreed. "I feel like Apollo should have made a move by now if he was going to, but so far... nothing. Unless he's caught onto us already, but how would he have done that?" He was more speaking aloud, but he figured it couldn't hurt to put the other man on the same train of thought, in case Kanda might realize something he didn't.

Kanda gnawed on his lower lip, his eyes trained on Faulklin's house. "There is no way in hell he knows we're here."

Meanwhile in the house, Allen was brewing his third cup of tea, watching the child busy himself with the blades. The headache he was sporting since yesterday was unforgiving and he felt his forehead pulsing with pain because of the lack of sleep. He silently cursed, raking his fingers through his hair.

"Aren't you hungry?" he asked finally, breaking the rather uncomfortable silence.

Faulklin shook his head, barely pausing in working on the blades for Allen. "Don' really need t' eat much," he answered.

Allen laughed silently. "You should, though," he said, grinning widely. "-because people will tease you about your height all the time! You trust me on this!" He waggled his finger. "It is my everyday struggle, just because I was a little bit shorter than Lavi and Kanda when I was younger."

Faulklin shrugged, unconcerned. " 'f that's th' only thing they can do, 'm not too worried," he dismissed, moving on from working on one blade to another. " 'sides, it has some advantages. Most don't notice me 'nough to do anything."

"Aah, come on! You can't be like that! We're men!" Allen called standing up and putting his hands on his hips, as if he was preparing himself for the ultimate speech. "We have to be big and strong to protect all the ladies who are in need of it! That gives you a fine opportunity to find a good wife!" He grinned cheerfully.

The optimism obviously wasn't shared, the teen only glancing up to give Allen an impassive look. "I've seen plenty enough not to be interested," he stated rather bluntly, returning to work sharpening and inspecting Allen's blades. "Not much redeemable that I've seen."

"Oh, come on!" Allen whined. "Women are nice! They make you food and listen to you when you have problems!" He went on while slicing a bunch of apples. He didn't even notice the kid was not really listening to him but he talked and talked, just to fill the rather uncomfortable silence. "Maybe you haven't found the right one yet," Allen finished, plopping down on the chair, munching on his apples. He shoved the plate closer to the boy. "How do they look?" he asked, staring at the daggers Faulklin was working on.

"Fine," Faulklin shrugged, setting the last blade down. "None of 'em are cracked or anything, just kind of worn. Just needed sharpening and t' be tightened a lil bit." He pointedly scooted his chair back before sliding the apples the rest of the way, half-heartedly munching on one of the slices and turning his gaze out the window.

There were a few beats of silence before Allen sighed and stood up, walking to the nearby corner and sitting down there. "Oh boy, you're no fun," he murmured, looking around. It sure was quiet, too quiet for his taste. The boy still refused to indulge him in a proper conversation and there were not many things he could do.

He guessed Apollo won't be turning up anytime soon, so he guessed a nap would be fine. He glanced at his hand - still shaking. Yep, a nap it is.

"Mind if I nod off for a little while?" Allen asked, resting his hand on the small hidden dagger in his sash.

Faulklin nodded. "I don't mind."

Allen smiled, leaning his head against the cold wall, falling asleep right away.

Faulklin only watched the man in silence for a time, the room falling more quiet than ever now that Allen was no longer conscious to converse. He glanced out the window into the night, occupying his attention with listening for the soft breathing that assured sleep, and watching outside for anything to be wary of.

Being absolutely certain that Allen was entirely out of it, he carefully took one of the daggers from the tabletop and slid from his chair, stepping across the room with the cautious soundlessness of a mouse.

* * *

Lavi perked as he noticed the door of the house open up and the smaller brunette boy slip outside alone, sparing a brief look at his surroundings on the street before he turned and walked off on his own.

"Just where is he going...?"

"What the-" Kanda stopped himself, carefully leaning out of the window to squint at the house. "Moyashi!" he growled and without a warning he jumped out of the window, bolting inside the house.

Lavi was close behind him, pausing only to glance where Faulklin had gone and keep note before he went through the doorway as well. He was somewhat surprised to find Allen slumped against the corner wall, but at the very least he didn't spot any blood or signs of injury anywhere. Even so, he crossed the room after Kanda and shook the man by his shoulder to wake him.

"Hey! Allen, did something happen?"

The white-haired man only grumbled something unintelligible under his breath but otherwise didn't budge. That was all it took to make Kanda's eye twitch and grace the man with a slap across his face, which woke the other up very effectively.

"What the-!"

"What are you doing?" Kanda growled. "You let the kid go!"

Allen stared at him with eyes wide and immediately scrambled to his feet. "He was fixing my knives just a second ago!" he gasped as he ran to the door. "Where did he go?"

Lavi glanced at the table and belt of weapons, noting that one slot was empty. Looked as if one of the blades had walked off along with the boy.

"He didn't leave that long ago," he assured, taking the lead since he had made it a point to remember which way the boy went. Hopefully they wouldn't be long in catching his trail and finding the kid. "This way."

They followed Lavi silently down the street, hastily inspecting the narrow alleyways on the way.

"Why would he do that?" Allen whispered, his eyes wild with worry. "Why would he do something stupid like that?"

"We're about to find out soon enough," Kanda commented, knowing that whatever the boy was doing would not make Allen happy at all.

Lavi didn't say anything as he inspected their route, keeping a sharp eye out for anything. The maze-like streets of the city weren't very good for searching on the ground, so they switched to the rooftops. On the upside, the darkness of night wasn't a problem on account of Eagle Vision, and before much longer he spied them, both Faulklin and another assassin that was one of their own.

"There!" he alerted Allen and Kanda.

The boy was crouched down to pet a cat wandering the late hour, and the assassin looked somewhat impatient. They were speaking, but between Faulklin's soft-spoken voice and the man's hushed one, what they were saying wasn't particularly clear. Lavi could guess though by the audible sigh the man let out as he crouched down to pet the cat as well, Faulklin retracting his hand.

Another two beats passed, and while the man was still crouched, Faulklin lunged at the man with something, sending the startled cat bolting down an alleyway and the assassin jumping back in shock to clutch his own throat now gushing blood.

By the time the assassin's body hit the ground, Kanda was ready to throw the dagger he was brokenly clutching at his side at the boy but the breath that Allen released as he stood up stopped him. His head was immediately flooded with curses of all the languages he knew but his body didn't move as he watched Allen stand on the edge of the roof, staring at the goddamned brat with his mouth gaping.

He was too focused on the trembles that shook the man's body to react in time. He only managed to grab empty air where Allen stood just a second ago. He heard the dull thud of Allen's feet hitting the ground and saw him run down the street to meet the brat, which only served to make him more furious.

He followed, stalking slowly forward in the shadows, just in time to hear Allen ask ´why´in a weak, breathy voice.

Faulklin spun around with eye wide in surprise when Allen landed on the ground, retreating a few steps and clearly weighing his chances of fleeing, the hand that clutched the bloody dagger trembling unsteadily.

For several moments, all he did was mutely stare at Allen, then his single eye slid past him, catching Kanda and Lavi further away, even hidden as they were, and seemed to decide that moment which of his options was best.

"He's going to run!" Lavi warned, a second before the boy whirled on his heel and dashed.

"He won't be able to run far," Kanda said, eerily calm. He ran after the boy, faster than ever before, getting ahead of Allen in a split second. Faulklin sprinted as the old saying of "run as if the Devil himself is upon you", with Kanda as the perfect embodiment of the devil himself.

"Kanda!" Allen yelled when he saw the man draw a dagger from his belt. A second later Faulklin tripped forward and tumbled across the stone street with a yelp of pain as the blade bit his ankle.

Faulklin hissed as he pulled the dagger free and scrambled back away from the swordsman and back onto his feet, though with a noticeable limp and he stopped when his back brushed a wall of a building, the kid leaning his back against it.

Lavi could see him visibly trembling, but oddly enough and as menacing as Kanda was, Faulklin didn't appear fearful of the man. Even with the point of the man's sword brandished at his throat, he didn't waver, managing a glare through brown bangs that could rival Kanda's own with what even the blind would call a stupid level of defiance and resentment.

"Do it, then," he hissed, less than unconcerned by the deadly weapon. " 'won't be anything worse than what you fucking _Assassins_ do already every day."

"Why?" Allen gasped, taking a step closer. "Why did you kill him? Did Apollo make you do this?"

"He didn't make me do anything," Faulklin snapped, his voice not quite so soft spoken as it was normally. "He's going to win. He's gonna beat you guys, and when he does and he has the Apple, he's gonna change things and make them better!"

"Make things better?" Allen repeated. "Faulklin, whatever that man has told you is a lie!"

"Don't waste your breath," Kanda interrupted, his eyes never leaving the boy, and Allen immediately turned his attention on his partner.

"Put that sword down!" he ordered, putting a hand on Kanda's arm to push the sword away, only the man didn't budge. "Faulklin, please! You misunderstand!"

"I don't misunderstand anything!" Faulklin snarled. "He's going to use it to make the world better and use the Apple to control people, so they won't be able to do terrible things anymore!"

"He's a Templar," Lavi stated after having remained silent on the sidelines so far, more in case Allen hadn't come to the conclusion already. More likely it was that Allen wasn't willing to admit to the realization. "He believes in the idea of the perfect world through order and control, even if it means taking away free will with the use of the Pieces of Eden."

"People can't be trusted to do things on their own, all they do is hurt each other! You think your ideals are better, but they aren't," Faulklin snapped in a feral tone, breathing a little too hard and hateful shaking becoming more pronounced. "It's your guy's fault just as much as it was his! You preach about protecting free will and then allow people like that bastard blacksmith to do whatever they want hurting other people so long as they call themselves your allies, then turn around an' murder people that don't agree with you! I'll never regret killing him and I don't regret killing any other assassins! I won't regret wiping out every one of the rest of you either! All of _your_ side are the ones that deserve to die!"

It was at this point the kid ducked around Kanda's sword point and lunged with the dagger still in his hand.

Allen was so stunned by the boy's outburst that he reacted a second too late. He couldn't draw his weapon in time, so the only thing he could defend himself with was his left arm. If it wasn't for that, the dagger would have pierced his heart.

Allen stumbled backwards just as Kanda brutally kicked the boy off him and against the nearby wall. Before he could scramble to his legs, Kanda already had his sword nailing Faulklin's hand to the ground.

"Stop!" Allen shouted, trying to wrench the dagger out of his hand only to curse a second later because it was probably wedged in his bone.

"Any last words?" Kanda calmly asked, eyeing the thrashing boy with dead calmness.

" 'hope he kills all of you," Faulklin hissed lowly, meeting the man's expression with a defiant glare of his own and spitting at the man for good measure.

"No! Kanda, wait!"

Unfortunately for Allen, the man was not listening anymore. He jerked the sword out of the boy's hand and brought its tip down through his neck instead, not feeling generous enough to let the boy die quickly.

"Mystery solved," he said, wiping the blade on the boy's back. "Don't cry over him," he warned when he saw Allen. "He doesn't deserve it."

Lavi was already certain that Kanda's words were wasted considering that it was Allen of all people, especially at this point, when there was nothing to be done except watch the kid bleed out onto the street as he choked a horrible, gurgling noise from a punctured throat.

He was right, of course, but chose to say nothing as Allen went to the boy's side as he lay dying. Even as he gasped and sputtered, crimson trickling from his lips, Faulklin's single eye wandered somewhat towards Allen's face.

"Sh-should've jus' le'me d-die…" he choked softly around a mouthful of blood, laying limp without struggle, single eye going glassy. "…'day tha-at bastard tried t' kill me… 'n' t-took m-my eye…"

"Sorry," Allen whispered softly as he petted his hair. "I'm so sorry!" He let his tears spill freely, murmuring to the boy as he was dying. He didn't dare to kill him swiftly. Not while Kanda stood above him. "You could have at least let him die quickly," he said quietly, sitting down. He tried to pull out the dagger but it still wouldn't move.

Lavi glanced between them, but it was obvious that both Allen and Kanda had entirely opposite feelings on how the situation should have been handled. It wasn't really his place to have an opinion though.

He watched Allen struggle with the dagger for a few moments before walking over and crouching down, gently grasping his wounded arm. "Here, let me have a look at that."

Allen withdrew his uninjured arm and shifted so he would sit on the ground. He didn't even have the strength to yell at Lavi anymore - he just let the man try to remove the blade. "Can we at least bury him properly?" he asked in a whisper.

Kanda eyed whim with slight irritation and scoffed. "Not near a church, or where we bury our men." With that he turned on his heel and slowly walked down the road.

Lavi mostly remained silent, carefully working the blade out and putting pressure on it to stem the bleeding until it could clot naturally, then wrapping it tightly.

"Try not to let it bother you too much," he advised softly, referring more to the boy than to the wounds. "All it'll do is stress you out more, and right now, that's the last thing anyone needs."

"How can I not?" Allen asked, pressing his palm against his forehead. "I wasn't able to do anything!" Useless - that's what he felt like. He wished at that moment he could at least feel the pain in his left arm. At least something that would make him feel that he wasn't completely dead inside. But it hurt. Maybe he wished to be like the Bookmen - emotionless and empty, dull inside. Because maybe he felt too much. "He was so young," he said and immediately thought of Tim's bright eyes and merry smile.

Lavi hummed somberly. "It might not have mattered what you or anyone did or said, the result may have been the same, or worse," he told Allen flatly. "Young or not, I think he knew the risks and what might happen to him, and he went ahead anyway. It's naïve to think you can always save or avenge everyone, and a lot of people don't want a martyr."

Allen raised his head and stared. He couldn't decide whether to feel insulted, disgusted or angry.

"A lot of people don't want a Judas either!" he said, yanking his hand out of the other man's grip. He drew a deep, shaky breath and scrambled to his feet, steadiyng himself with a hand on the wall. "I know I can't save everyone. I am not as naive as you think I am! But if don't at least try, who else will? Or should we all just _stand back and observe_ like you?" he spat scornfully, absentmindedly palming his chest as if he could stop his madly beating heart. It felt as if it wanted to pump its way out of his body.

His so called destiny was to guard the apple for the sake of people, but what good did it bring to them? He felt empty just protecting an inanimate object. The brotherhood always said it was for the greater good but what good was there if the people slowly sunk deeper and deeper into the sea of misfortune and hardship and there was no hand that would pull them out?

"I didn't say to just stand back and do nothing," Lavi rebuked, standing abruptly and staring down the slightly shorter male. It was taking all of his willpower not to let his frustration show, especially the way Allen threw it in his face that he tended to hang back and let things happen as much as possible, when it was required of him.

Arguing anything even remotely close to _do you think I WANT to?_ would break the illusion of non-caring that he was obligated to maintain though, so he said nothing on the subject.

"But unless you can bring people back from the dead, dwelling over it and blaming yourself doesn't do a damn bit of good for anyone. Not for you and not for the dead. What's already been done is done. The kid chose to murder, of his own will, and he paid for it. That's how the real world works. I can't say whether or not Kanda made the right choice, but neither do you know he made the wrong one. Either way doesn't matter, what happened can't be reversed."

"I know how the _real world_ works," Allen growled sarcastically. "You of all people should know that! Oh," he faked surprise. "-but I have forgotten that you don't care, you're here just for the history, right? Sorry, it had slipped my mind that the Bookmen weren't taught how to feel!" He felt bad for saying it in hindsight, but he couldn't hold it in anymore. He was suffocating with all the feelings he was holding inside.

His vision blurred and he felt like someone set his lungs on fire. The pain in his chest wasn't helping either. Then suddenly, he was staring at the ground, his eyes focusing on the tiny drops of sweat that fell from his face.

Lavi clenched his jaw so tightly that it made his teeth hurt, feeling some of his self-control slipping. Part of his mind told him to just turn and walk away before he really did slip, but he was rooted to the spot with fists balled at his sides and all of his own pent up emotions about ready to boil over whether he wanted them to or not.

They just might have boiled over too, if Allen didn't suddenly collapse right in front of him vomiting blood, anger melting into sudden alarm. He kneeled next to the white-haired man and tried to help him sit up.

"Hey! Allen! Talk to me, are you okay?"

"I can't - I can't-" Allen gasped, clutching Lavi's hand as he gasped for air.

"What happened?!" Kanda barked, looking from one man to the other, first in panic then in anger. "What the fuck did you do?!" He shouted, falling to his knees next to his white-haired partner. He'd heard their little argument echoe down the street and just when he thought the two would finally settle things - either by screaming it out or throwing fists - he heard Lavi's distressed call.

"It's gotta be his wounds from the Apple again, they're getting worse," Lavi said, deciding to ignore the usual accusation that he'd _done_ something to try and get this result.

"No shit!" Why now? Everything was going well, why did he collapse so suddenly?! He was gently shaking his shoulders but Allen didn't respond anymore.

They brought him to the den, Kanda shouting on the top of the lungs at the men to get a doctor - yet again. He felt like the joke was getting old. Very old.

They put Allen on the bed and while Lavi was trying to figure out what was happening to the whitehead, Kanda paced around the room, clenching his jaw so tightly that his mouth went numb.

The doctor came and when he was finished, he told him what others have many other times before - there is nothing to be done. Kanda had half a mind in cutting the man down on the spot.

"We saw many of these cases," the doctor said, "but it was always the elderly. We cannot treat it, not with the current knowledge. I'm sorry. There are only two possible outcomes of this," he continued. "He will either get over it himself, or..."

Kanda left the room to let his frustration out in the underground tunnels. His furious shouts echoed throughout the whole den.


	35. Tiny Glimmer of Hope

The following days weren't any better, and neither did they make Allen improve. The man barely woke, and the times that he did were fleeting and delirious at best. He wasn't getting better. Chances were he wasn't going to, and everyone was painfully aware of it, especially Kanda.

Lavi spent what time he could get away with near Allen without edging too much into appearing as if he cared, but it was difficult. Especially on account that he felt as if he was at least partially responsible somehow.

If only he'd been quicker to keep Allen from using the Apple that way that day they'd faced Apollo and Kanda had shown up... if only he'd been more insistent on seeing the wounds himself when Allen shooed him away and pretended to be _just fine_... if only he'd been in a position to really _be_ there as a friend should and not instead add to the man's stress.

If only, if only. So many damn regrets, and he couldn't even tell Allen that he _cared_ even though it was forbidden to him. Even though he wasn't _supposed_ to.

And he'd had the nerve to lecture Allen about not dwelling on things that couldn't be changed? Ha! Add 'hypocrisy' to that growing list of reasons why his being a "good Bookman" made him a loathsome person.

The only small bit of comfort he had at the moment was a hookah and some tobacco, which he knew was really just a spurious distraction at best, but it helped somewhat. A crutch he could use to hold up his emotions from crumbling and spewing everywhere.

It wasn't as though it'd have a drastic affect on anything. Most activity had crawled to a stand-still aside from regular patrols from the men. Allen could die any day, and Kanda didn't want to be far if or more likely _when_ it happened. Lavi wanted to be close enough to at least know as soon as it happened, even if he couldn't be directly at Allen's side, where he wasn't wanted anyway.

The soft whoosh of a pillow being smashed under someone's weight drew him out of his thoughts, glancing his single eye open to stare across the table at Kanda. His own chin was propped in one hand with one of the tobacco pipes dangling between his fingers.

"You look like Hell," Lavi muttered, cracking a dry-humored smile that didn't reach to his eye. Sitting up properly, he idly offered the pipe across the table, just in case Kanda wanted it, but otherwise he didn't say anything.

Kanda didn't even bother replying before grabbing the pipe and taking a drag. He did look like Hell - he hadn't shaved for a week and the scrubby stubble that covered his chin was getting rather annoying, not to mention it made him look at least two decades older. He rubbed his forehead and sighed, offering the pipe back.

"Same to you," he grumbled, but it wasn't really true. Lavi did look worse than usual but it wasn't as bad as in Kanda's case. Maybe it was because of the Bookman routine of staying up late, buried in books or whatever they were doing during their training. "Came up with anything groundbreaking yet?"

For a moment the redhead looked puzzled, trying to piece together what Kanda meant, before it seemed to dawn on him and he rested his cheek back against his palm as he took the pipe back.

"Groundbreaking?" he mused. "You make it sound like you expect me to pull a miracle outta my ass. I'm a strategist but I certainly ain't Jesus, y'know?"

"You read a lot," Kanda clarified, sounding much milder than usual. "I just thought... never mind." He stared at the swirling smoke above the water that filled the hookah before he shivered and composed himself. "Speaking of strategies," he began anew, his voice gaining his usual strength. "I am leaving for a mission tomorrow. I won't come back for at least two days." Kanda didn't know where he wanted to go with that. Why was he even telling the redhead? "A caravan with goods is arriving this evening and I sent some men to pick up what we ordered. I wanted someone to oversee the trading process - someone who isn't as senile as our librarian," he added quickly.

 _Nice save,_ he commented mentally. It was a half-truth, but whatever. They really needed someone to correct the old man's notes and none of his men were really into arguing with him. Kanda didn't want to say he came to talk to the redhead just because he hoped he had found a way to technically raise Allen from the dead.

Lavi merely hummed acknowledgment, watching Kanda out of the corner of his eye for several moments. It wasn't difficult to guess the man's real intent. Kanda was far from a fearful person, but the redhead had no doubts that he was afraid, even if he didn't show it.

Really though, who else could he go to at this point? The doctors were damn useless for something like this, and Bookmen held knowledge that no one else knew. Perhaps he did have the know-how to do something that could save Allen, but the problem came in maintaining the role he was supposed to fulfill. Allen's life should have meant nothing to him, but the truth was that it was tearing him up inside.

If he thought hard and long enough, he probably would have the means, but being able to use it without showing he cared about the result was another matter entirely. He could choose to do so, but it would be a risk to him he wasn't keen on taking all the same.

It brought something else back to memory and he couldn't help but crack a bitter smirk, staring into space elsewhere.

"Is it terrible? That I almost empathize with what that scrawny kid said?" he mused somberly. " _'Why should people be allowed life and a free will if they only use it to create suffering'_ ? It's not such a far-fetched assessment of the human condition, really. And the fact that a child has to be the one to say it…" He paused and sighed wearily, for a moment looking far too old for a man of his age. "The world sure does enjoy proving time and again just how beyond fucked up it can get, doesn't it?"

Hearing the words, the back of Kanda's neck started to tingle unpleasantly. He turned to frown at the redhead, not quite sure what to make of the words he just uttered.

"We make mistakes, so that we can learn from them. The world may be fucked up, but it always was, and there is nothing we can do to change the fact, only wait." He paused. "Could you call a life _life_ if it wasn't your own?"

Lavi cracked a hollow smile, resting his head on the table with one arm as a cushion, almost appearing to sulk for a moment.

"You're asking the wrong person on that one, Yuu. Bookmen only live for the history in the record books." He wasn't even sure he knew how to really 'live'. Just about every moment of his own life since he was old enough to remember had been spent playing one temporary persona after another, with people he was meant to remember in his head and forget in his heart.

Kanda looked him straight in his eye and shook his head.

"It is your _choice_ to live like that," he said. "You choose to live like a Bookman, just as I choose to live like an assassin. There is nothing forcing you to live your life like that, no chains holding you down. Your life is your own and you can do whatever you want with it. You could cut your ties with the clan anytime if you wished it. That is what it means to be free."

There was silence after that and Kanda closely watched the other man's face, looking for a crack in that carefully neutral mask. He didn't like where the conversation was going.

"Doesn't really work like that this late in the game," Lavi hummed. Sitting up, he took another drag of tobacco before he could start blabbering too much, slowly exhaling a cloud. "Never mind... I'm just overthinking too loudly. So what do you plan to do from here on out?"

Suspicion nagged at the back of Kanda's mind but he let it go. Lavi's question, however, surprised him.

He didn't really think about _doing_ anything besides waiting to see if Allen would...

Kanda bit his tongue and lowered his eyes on the carpet. "I... don't know."

God, he sounded pathetic.

Lavi fell silent for a time, mulling over his own thoughts to himself before deeming it a good enough time to speak.

"The trouble that Allen's in now began with that Apple... so maybe they key to undoing the damage lies in that as well," he proposed carefully.

Kanda straightened up, his frown deepening. The nagging suspicious feeling was getting worse. "What do you mean?"

"Yuu, tell me something," Lavi prompted, looking at the man seriously. "How much do you know about the First Civilization? Do you know what the Apple is, exactly?"

"I know there is more of them and that they are called the Pieces of Eden." He ran a hand through his ebony hair, searching in his mind for all the information Allen shared with him. "They are weapons, keys maybe," he shook his head. "Each has a different power and it is said that they contain the `truth`. The sprout mentioned something about infinite knowledge and all that but as far as I know, they are supposed to be the devices that are able to make the whole world bow to a single man. I never saw one until he showed me."

"There are a lot of Pieces of Eden that are weapons, but even though the Apple has been used that way, it isn't one. Not really," Lavi stated. "It's more like... a complex library, overflowing with lost knowledge, so vast that it would make the entirety of the Musaeum and Library of Alexandria look like a pauper's bookshelf. It's seeming simplicity is a rather bold testament to the sophistication and technology that the First Civilization had, well beyond any technology we have now or will probably have for a long time to come. A few times when I had the chance, I looked through some of the information it had to offer on my own," he admitted. "No small surprise, it contains medical knowledge too, well advanced beyond anything any doctors in this day and age know how to do. Likely it would have information on how to treat something like whatever's ailing Allen."

Kanda squinted, trying to rub the unpleasant tingling from his neck. "And you want to see if it really is there," he said slowly, not even blinking. He was right to feel edgy about the conversation earlier. He knew exactly what Lavi wanted to do. Problem was, he didn't trust the redhead that much. He felt and tasted blood in his mouth from biting his tongue too hard.

"I don't want to do anything, but you obviously wanted to hear about a possible solution to Allen's current condition, so I supplied such a possibility. It makes no difference to me either way, but I'm sure it makes a difference to you."

"You know, you say it a lot these days," Kanda pointed out sharply, his jaw set stubbornly. "Makes one think the exact opposite." It was really getting annoying. The words sounded so false, he was sure his ears would start bleeding anytime now. "Are you saying that because of me? Or because you believe that repeating them would make them true?" Kanda stood up, looking down on the bookman. "If they were true, you wouldn't have sounded so panicked when he had collapsed."

And with that, he stalked away.

Lavi retained his silence up until Kanda left. Once Kanda was gone, he sighed to himself and fixed his stare on nothing at all, frowning unpleasantly. Funny, how Allen was so easily made to believe after just a few words that their relationship had always merely been a ruse, while Kanda appeared the last to believe it.

Especially considering how paranoid Kanda had been about he and Allen being too close for his comfort.

"Weren't you the one that wanted me at a distance from him in the first place?" he mused, more to himself now since the other man as gone.

* * *

Just as Kanda said, the man was gone for the following two days. On the plus side, it gave Lavi a little bit of breathing room he didn't have under the other's usual scrutiny. He was slightly more free to visit Allen and keep an eye on his condition without worrying about his friend's temperamental lover keeping guard.

When he wasn't at Allen's bedside, he was searching the town for leads and trying to wriggle his way into connections and informant channels. Even if they didn't have immediate information on Apollo or any other important things going on in the city that would be of the Assassin's interest, it didn't hurt to have allies.

And when he was back at the den, he had the library and Apple more available to him. With Kanda gone and Allen borderline comatose, no one noticed anything different anyway.

Two days went by at a crawl, very little happening to take notice of. Kanda should be back any moment however, so Lavi decided it best to be easy to find, settling down to a book in the meantime after he'd assured himself Allen was still alive and breathing.

Kanda dragged himself up the stairs and into his room where Allen was resting when he finally returned, naively holding onto the thin thread of hope that his condition has gotten better.

"Hey, idiot," he murmured. "Still asleep?" When exactly had he started talking to himself? "How long do you intend to keep loitering like this?" There was no answer and he gave up on talking. Even if Allen heard him, he evidently didn't feel like waking up anytime soon anyway. Kanda dragged a palm down his face. "You've become weak," he said, barely keeping his voice from cracking. He left the room quietly, deciding to search for the redhead instead.

Kanda didn't greet him when he entered the library and Lavi didn't say anything either, only pretended not to notice him. Kanda walked to the closest bookshelf and leaned against it, almost making it fall, and slid down on to sit on the floor, waiting for the bookman to say something.

Anything.

"I'm just going to go out on a limb here, and guess the defeatism doesn't have anything to do with your mission," Lavi hummed when it became evident Kanda was expecting him to be the first to speak. He didn't bother waiting for Kanda to respond, or continue beating around the bush himself, carefully neutral in demeanor. "So have you come to any conclusions, on what you want to do about it?"

Kanda took a deep breath, not taking his eyes of the opposite shelf.

"Take the Apple," he said, specifically not mentioning from where because he was pretty sure Lavi already knew. "-and find a cure." He didn't have to say he was ready to try about anything - even giving the Apple to someone he didn't trust. "Allen trusted you," he said, hoping that the message was clear.

Even after what happened, the whitehead still allowed to keep him around, even though he tried to avoid Lavi as much as possible. He trusted the Bookman enough to let him fight on his side.

Kanda stood up, moving towards the door. "Let me know if you find something."

"Perhaps I already have," Lavi hummed, pointedly not looking at Kanda, and offering up as explanation, "You were gone two days. Not much else to occupy my time with in the meantime, and I figured you'd probably ask eventually, so..." It was at this point he trailed off.

Kanda nodded mutely, already having considered that. "Have you found anything then?"

"Yes and no," Lavi said, smacking his book shut and swiveling in his chair to look at Kanda properly. "There are some methods that might work, but they aren't methods that are in practice right now. The matter isn't only one of method, though, its also a thing of technology. It's going to take some improvisation that may or may not be successful."

He paused for a moment, knowing that his words were somewhat cryptic, but he had to be sure of something first.

"I'm going to level with you, Yuu. The chances of anything working are slim. He could bounce back on his own, but its unlikely with how his health has been degrading going that route. The other route could save him, or the attempt itself could kill him. No waking up for him, no goodbyes, none o' that. I can try my best, but the odds aren't in his favor no matter which way you look at it, and I don't know that even with the knowledge from the Apple that I can do anything except speed along his death."

The last words rang in Kanda's head like a funeral bell.

But what else was there to do? What would Allen do?

Kanda knew the answer and he cursed himself from becoming so attached to the white-haired man. He turned around to look at the redhead, not able to say anything. He left the den shortly after, only stopping to peek at Allen, heading to the nearest tavern.

He ordered the strongest liquor they had, sat in the darkest corner of the room, and drank while trying to forget that stupid white face that looked so pathetically powerless and weak at the moment.

Curse him and his fucking feelings. It made things so damn complicated.

Lavi, for his part, merely watched Kanda go.

It was a big decision to make, but he knew already what Kanda's answer would likely be when he returned. Might as well not waste any time on preparing for when the man came and gave his decision.

He went about making preparations, mainly with supplies and tools he would need more than anything else, making sure they were adequate and sterile. When he was sure he had everything he would need that was possibly attainable, he situated himself at one of the tables in the main room. When Kanda was ready, he'd show up and indicate it. Nothing for him to do except wait until then.

* * *

Kanda could barely walk straight after he was done. His head was surprisingly clear, though. He stumbled through the den's door when the stars started to disappear from the sky and dragged himself upstairs, ignoring the looks the other assassins gave him.

He stumbled through the threshold of his room and sat - or more like fell - on the ground next to the bed there Allen laid. He was glad for the alcohol in his veins that dulled the pain. He leaned his head against the edge of the bed and breathed deeply.

"Fuck you," Kanda said, mentally laughing at himself. "Look what you do to me!" he accused the comatose man, stretching his legs in front of him. "The rabbit said he can help you, so I'm gonna let him try." He paused. "If you die, I'm gonna live long just to spite you."

He felt his eyelids dropping mercilessly and shifted into a better position. He's going to regret sleeping on the floor in the morning, that's for sure.

"Don't die, though. I'd be bored without your bitching." And that was the last thing he remembered from that night.


	36. Miracle-Worker

Lavi left Kanda and Allen alone until morning. Seeing him stumble in had been enough to tell him that the older assassin was likely too drunk to be much use until the alcohol worked out of his system anyway, and he hadn't been bluffing about chances of survival being slim.

He wouldn't make a move until Kanda bid it, and were he entirely open and honest to anyone else, he was anxious about the attempt.

He understood what he would have to do, the problem was in actually _doing_ it. Know-how was only half of the problem, but being equipped for it was another problem to tackle entirely.

Once morning was in full swing, he went to the shared room, not bothering to knock since he highly doubted he'd have to worry about walking in on anything. Allen was still fully unconscious and Kanda was likewise passed out for a wholly different reason.

Lavi idly nudged the swordsman with the toe of his boot, staring down at him inquisitively.

"Oi, Yuu. You're not dying on me now too, are ya?" he kidded lightly. "I can only attempt pullin' off so many miracles at once."

"Shut up," Kanda groaned without even bothering to open his eyes. It was evident that he was awake for some time already. "Work your miracles," he said with a hoarse voice, struggling to his feet. "What do you need?"

Lavi blew out a breath.

"Well... it might not be the hardest, but the first step is the trickiest," Lavi informed. "Especially since no one in this era knows how to do it. The First Civilization knew how to make surgeries more effective by having blood transferred from one person to another. Thing is, not all blood types are compatible. Matching up the right types is the trick."

"How do we do that?" Kanda was already starting to regret his decision, but he was sure Allen would do the same for him if the roles were reversed.

He was ready to try just about anything.

"Well, to be honest, its going to take some educated guess-work and no small amount of luck," Lavi stated honestly. "Basically we get just a little bit of blood from a few people and I'll have to try and see if I can test it for a match. Those that fit, we draw some more blood from to use and hope it really does work. Once we get past that part, it'll come down to skill and how much damage his body has taken. That's where the real difficulty is likely to come in."

"Alright, let's start in here," Kanda said, rolling up his sleeve and taking out a dagger. "Where do I bleed?"

* * *

As it turned out - or at least as Lavi _hoped_ it turned out, seeing as he only sort of half-knew what he was doing - Kanda's blood would work just fine. He got the blood that he needed and gave it a couple of hours for the man to bounce back from the dizziness before he decided on beginning.

He tied back his red mane of hair away from his face even as Kanda stood by with Teidol for him to give instruction, since both had shown they at least had moderate knowledge of treating wounds, which was as good as the Bookman could hope for at the moment.

That done, he set up the makeshift IV of blood he'd put together and hollowed needle, mentally crossing his fingers that he was right about Kanda's and Allen's blood types being compatible.

The redhead sighed audibly. This was something he was going to need _both_ eyes for, especially his right.

Peeling off his eye patch, he fluttered his right eye open, wincing slightly as he blinked several times and let it adjust.

He immediately winced and covered it again with the back of his hand, frowning. It wasn't just for appearances sake or hiding that he had this eye that he wore a patch over it. It was the bombardment of information that came with using it to view the world. Short-term, it was fine, but extended use caused a strain that only grew worse the longer he used it.

After a few moments, he lowered his hand from it. While his left eye was a natural mossy green, his right was a metallic, tawny gold, almost seeming to glow faintly and ripple, exact to the flowing liquid light that traveled through the lines in the Apple.

"You ready to do this?" he prompted, gaze flicking to Kanda and Teidol.

"Ready as we can be," Kanda said, staring the man right in the eyes. He ignored Tiedoll's hand on his shoulder and nodded.

Lavi nodded, a little more apprehensive than he was letting on, but there was little to be done for it except to simply try and hope for the best.

No use in prolonging it, Lavi began immediately, indicating for one of the other two to help with dabbing or washing away the blood that rose to the surface so he could see properly past his incisions.

The lower half of his body - his intestines, stomach, kidneys, liver, et cetera - were all okay. They looked like they might have been damaged at one point, but healed over on their own. That, however, made things much more complicated.

Some of the ribs and sternum had to be broken to access the chest properly, and as Lavi dared not even fear before confirming it, what took the worst damage had been Allen's heart.

The tissue looked scarred in places, and in more than one there were small pinprick holes or hairline thin tears steadily pushing out blood where they shouldn't.

It took many long, meticulous hours of delicate work, pinning other things out of the way, using fine tools to move frayed edges where they needed to be, and to carefully stitch and even cauterize some parts closed, all of which was made more difficult by the fact that it was a constantly moving, vital organ and he _could not_ afford to make any mistakes.

Every so often he would squint his eyes or give his head a flick to the side, his eye bothering him more than he would have liked, but he already knew what he was in for in trying to use it, much less for an extended period of time. He didn't speak at all except for when he needed either Kanda or Teidol to do something to aid in the surgery, otherwise entirely focused on his task and seeing to it that everything was done as best as was possible.

More than once, he had feared he might have screwed something up, or managed to make things worse, when Allen's heartbeats faltered slightly or something sent up a squirt of more blood than before, but he crushed his worry before it could get beyond his control.

Losing his cool at such a critical time was an absolute must-not. Even when his head started to pound from the strain of his eye, he refused to give in until he was finished, even if his pace slowed somewhat. He'd be damned if he didn't try his hardest to pull this off.

When he finally decided that he'd done all that could be, at no small amount of effort, he double-checked what he'd done, even bothering to ask Kanda and Teidol what they thought of his handiwork if only to be sure that he wasn't overlooking anything out of fatigue.

Moving things back into place, both organs, tissue walls, and bone, he sewed everything up neatly and bandaged Allen up snugly. At the very least, he could say that his attempt to improve the man's condition hadn't killed him outright. The blood transfusion worked as well as he had hoped and given him a longer window of time to work properly.

"I think that's as good as he's going to get," Lavi told them, washing the blood and other things from his hands, squinting his right eye shut. He felt as if it had taken twice as long as it had in actuality, feeling more drained than he was willing to admit. "The rest is up to him from here on out, though I can't guarantee he'll really get better. All I can say is, I tried."

Kanda watched the redhead after the surgery, ignoring how his heart was about to burst in his chest.

He watched the whole procedure with morbid fascination, he just couldn't tear his eyes off it. Seeing a man with his chest open and his heart still beating was just...indescribable.

Tiedoll murmured something next to him - most probably telling Lavi to rest. The bookman looked worn and several years older. Most of the blood that had gotten on him has long since dried up and blackened and made him look even worse.

Kanda carefully wiped the remains of blood that had gotten on him and threw another linen sheet at Lavi who caught it with ease. He knew he should probably say something, but what was there to say?

He bit his tongue instead and leaned aganst the wall, slowly sliding down. Resisting the urge to punish himself for the cruel thoughts that invaded his mind just minutes ago. Some irrational - or maybe the sane - part of his mind whispered to him to save his lover from all the suffering, that he surely must have felt how Lavi's knife dove into his flesh and how his hands broke his ribs.

If it wasn't for his old man's steady, rough hand on his shoulder he would have done it.

"Get some rest," he said, mentally laughing at himself. There was no point trying to forget it. He would remember the sinful whispers everytime he'll look at Allen's face. IF he's going to survive it. "Good job," he said, not able to control the upturned corners of his mouth. He just hoped he didn't seem as mad as he felt.

It was on the tip of Lavi's tongue to tell the man not to thank him too early, that there was still the chance that something could go wrong - that there were _a lot_ of chances something would go wrong - and that he may not be able to do anything about it when or if it did, but he resisted saying it, instead only offering up a neutral smile as he wiped his hands clean and picked the grit from beneath his nails with it.

"Don't mention it," he hummed, more than willing to take up the invitation to go catch some rest for himself. He lingered in the door for a moment, debating whether or not to clean up the supplies stationed at the side of Allen's bed, but decided he could deal with those later.

Excusing himself back downstairs once he'd re-secured his eye patch to his face, he plucked up a large, single pillow, flung it against one of the many bookshelves in the corner of the library, and buried his face into the cushion. He didn't bother with anything else, too tired to care about getting more than the one to bury his face in, and was out like a light minutes later, entirely bushed.

Kanda couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard he tried. He spent the night staring at the unmoving body of the man that occupied his bed, feeling a cold knot in his gut.

He silently wondered how long it would take for Allen to recover... or die.

He stood up, re-did his hair and straightened his back. Untying his half of the silver pendant that hung from his neck, he pressed it into Allen's palm and closed his hand around it.

There were missions to be done and he was sure he stood still for long enough.


	37. Tangled Truths and Lies

Lavi couldn't help but lament using his eye after the fact for as long as he had, but he'd been determined to keep going for as long as he could with it and do his best for Allen. Maybe it was penance, making up for the guilt of all the ways he'd hurt Allen with his choices.

He didn't _regret_ using his eye in such a way, especially not when it came to his childhood friend, it was simply that his head hurt worse than any hangover, eliciting a groan muffled by cloth as he dragged his head up. It made him not want to get up, but he forced himself to, wincing.

Nothing to be done for it now except ride out the ache until it passed. Sensory overload was a royal _bitch_ and a half.

He went to Allen's room, more with the excuse in mind that he was simply out to clean up the supplies he'd left than anything, but he also wanted to see how Allen was faring. It didn't look as though Kanda was around, which was somewhat surprising, but he guessed that the man was probably too anxious about the outcome to sit still. Likely he was busying himself with a mission or something in the meantime.

He took his while to glance over Allen, taking in his features. His skin was still paler than was normal, the pained crease of his brows, his shallow but steady breathing. He idly checked the man's pulse, and was happy to note it wasn't too flighty or irregular. Hopefully that meant he would pull through.

 _He will,_ he mused to himself. _He's a total stubborn-ass like that._ He smirked to himself, before it turned into a grimace as his temple throbbed again mercilessly.

"Me, on the other hand..."

He decided it probably a good idea to go back to bed, and hope that his migraine would be gone or at least lessened by the time he woke back up.

* * *

Kanda busied himself with work until he was ready to drop dead. It kept his head clean and, most importantly, made him forget things - like the sight of a beating heart. Too bad it only lasted until he closed his eyes at night.

The days dragged themselves like snails across salt and he hated every goddamned minute of not knowing what the result of the sprout's surgery was. It was a torture. He returned to the den every morning, checked on Allen and passed out onto a pile of pillows in the main hall.

It felt like forever.

Lavi, for his part, tried to keep some distance during all of it, only sneaking by to make sure there were no declines in Allen's health that he might be able to prevent, and typically only when no one else was around to notice.

He caught a few glimpses of Kanda, the man looking outwardly stone-cold and collected, but at the same time, worn. Lavi didn't offer him any words of comfort though, and wasn't sure that Kanda would want them anyway.

Allen at least appeared to be improving, even as though he might have moved a couple of times, despite remaining unconscious. Lavi wasn't entirely sure if it was Allen himself, or if it had been Kanda's doing.

The man's skin appeared less pale however with each passing day, his breathing slightly more steady.

Kanda and most of the other assassins were away again, so he took a chance to check on the white-haired male, idly brushing his knuckles on the younger's cheek. Days ago it had been unpleasantly chill and clammy, but today it bore more warmth, faintly tinged with a more proper pinkish hue instead of ghostly.

He stiffened slightly as the man twitched, pulling his hand away, and waited until Allen settled again, breathing softly in sleep. Lavi's eye wandered to his hand, tilting his head as it caught the sight of string from it.

He curiously pried Allen's fingers loose to glimpse the pendant clenched in hand, recognizing it as one much akin to Allen's own. He guessed that Kanda must have left it there, for one reason or another.

Since there was no need for him to linger, he turned, deciding it probably best he go before Kanda or anyone else returned. He didn't expect Allen's fingers gently close around his own and stop him in his tracks.

"Lavi," he heard a weak, barely audible whisper.

Lavi stiffened slightly and glanced back down at the bed, unsure if the action had been reflexive or conscious and deliberate.

"Hey, Allen... you awake?" He received an affirmative hum and felt the fingers around his hand tighten slightly.

Before he could continue, the door on the room opened and revealed Allen's raven-haired lover. The man didn't seem to notice at first, and when he looked up he paused, looking slightly startled.

"Kanda," Allen sighed, making the swordsman's eye widen in surprise.

Lavi's gaze flicked over to Kanda, offering the man a smile.

"Looks as though he's finally awake," he stated redundantly as he carefully tried to uncurl Allen's fingers from his hand so he could step back. He saw from the corner of his eye as the whitehead tried to reach for him but Allen thankfully gave up once he heard Kanda let out a deep, shaky breath.

It sounded like he had held it in since forever. His shoulders shifted as if someone has lifted a great weight off them and he stepped closer to the bed, not hastily, and dragged his palm down his face.

"Hey," Allen whispered, wincing slightly. "You look like hell."

Kanda laughed, actually _laughed_ , and his face suddenly lost all its wrinkles.

There was no kiss, no dramatic speech of love and those kind of things. All Kanda did was bend over and touch his forehead against Allen's and close his eyes.

"You look worse," Kanda said, a smile still tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Lavi picked a spot against the wall a fair distance away to lean against, letting the two have their moment before speaking up.

"A word of caution, Allen. Try not to move too much if you can help it. If you do, your ribs might have to be realigned, and that's going to hurt. A _lot_. You're going to have to take it easy for at least three weeks."

Allen nodded, whispering something to Kanda before returning his pendant. He then turned to Lavi, the smile on his face diminishing slightly. He heaved a sigh.

"I can't move anyway," he said, ignoring Kanda's startled _´what?´._ "It feels as if I had a horse sitting on my chest."

"No surprise," Lavi said, face carefully blank. "You put some serious wear and tear on that heart o' yours, or I guess to be more accurate, the Apple did. To be honest, its pretty amazing you survived as long as you did, considering there were holes in it."

Allen stared into Kanda's eyes, grinning. "I told you I won't die that easily," he said, making the other man roll his eyes and sink sit on the edge of the bed. He put the pendant back on his neck quickly and hid it under his shirt. "When did you become so sappy?" Allen asked, already losing his voice.

"Shut up, and... yeah, shut up and sleep!" the older man commanded, his ears turning slightly red.

Lavi smirked to himself. Likely Allen really would make a full recovery, if he was already cracking quips.

"Yuu's right," he said, pushing off the wall and turning to waltz off, shoving his hands into his pockets. "You should get some sleep. More rest you get, the faster you'll heal."

"Wait," Allen gasped, wincing at the pain. "Thank you!" he added more quietly, his voice wavering slightly.

Kanda turned to watch the redhead out of the corner of his eye, curious what his answer to this will be.

Lavi paused a moment, glancing over his shoulder and shrugging nonchalance. "It was nothing. Like I already told Yuu, don't mention it." It was somewhat difficult to tell how literal he was being about the very last part, or if it was simply a figure of speech.

Allen's face twisted into a sad look as his head fell back onto the pillow. "Don't go," he pleaded softly.

There was a moment of hesitation, before Lavi offered up a smile of false cheer, not bothering at all to make it appear anything more or less than a cold placation. "Nothing more I can do for you, 'sprout, unless you want me to bring you something to numb the pain. If it's company you want, you already have Yuu. Otherwise I'm done here for now."

The whitehead sighed, closing his eyes. "Bring me something to numb the pain then," he said, swallowing hardly. It was clear that he was pushing himself to the edge again.

Kanda placed his hand over his mouth to shut him up forcefully. He knew Allen wanted to talk to Lavi, but he will be able to do it when he'll be in a better shape.

"Later," he whispered, trying to ignore the man by the door.

Lavi merely nodded, silently excusing himself to fetch it. When he returned, it was with water and a handful of seeds that he set beside the bed.

"It's Opium poppies. Try starting off with three, give it about two hours to fully set in. If that isn't enough, see how much good one more does for you. Just be careful to moderate how much you take. Staggering taking them throughout the day should help keep up the numbing effect better than taking them all at once. Be careful not to overdo it," he advised.

Allen slowly looked from Kanda to the bookman and cocked an eyebrow. Kanda stood up from the bed and walked to the window, casually crossing his arms on his chest. A soft smile was tugging at his mouth and before Lavi could place the opium and walk away, Allen expectantly opened his mouth, waiting for Lavi to feed him the medication.

Well... he was already playing the role of doctor. Might as well not act like this meant anything, even though Lavi was sure that it was deliberate on the other's part. If he let it bother him, though, that'd mean that it mattered, and it shouldn't, so he didn't let it.

He complied without a word, holding the glass and being careful to make sure Allen didn't choke on the water in the meantime. When that was finished, he set it aside. though didn't immediately leave.

"Would that be all you need?"

Just as he asked that, Allen's stomach decided to speak for him. The inhuman growl echoed throughout the room and the halls like thunder. The man's cheeks slightly reddened and Kanda hid his smile behind his hand.

"Actually..." Allen began slowly, trying to contain the laugh that threatened to escape. It really hurt like hell.

Lavi took a moment to glance at Kanda, hesitating long enough that he hoped the other man would take the liberty of doing it, but it became rather apparent that the other had no intention of doing anything but leaving it up to him.

He wasn't entirely sure what sort of game they were playing at - though he had a pretty good idea - but he merely shrugged nonchalance and once again left the room to complete his task and return with food some thirty minutes or so later, setting the tray next to the bed.

"Here. I'll let you two enjoy your meal in peace," he said, figuring that it was a safe enough derailment. "I'm sure both of you would like some privacy together, after what almost happened."

"That's too bad," Kanda started, the horribly fake nonchalant tone cutting Lavi's ears. "-because I have to pick up a few things from my house," he said, casually walking past the redhead, stealing a piece of meat from the plate and throwing it into his mouth. "Keep an eye on him, would you?"

Allen stared at him with an expectant look. "I really can't move too much now..."

Lavi had to resist the urge to sigh aloud, deciding it better just to play it off for now. He was more certain now that there was something going on and he was being woefully left out of the loop... with them trying to forcibly pull him into said loop.

"He's certainly in a trusting mood," Lavi mused once Kanda had gone, helping Allen to sit up before offering him a spoonful of food. "Normally he'd be bitching at me to get out and go somewhere more wanted."

Allen hissed at the pain in his chest but smiled nonetheless.

"Maybe now he has a reason to trust you," he quipped, waiting for Lavi to break his stubborn, uncaring façade. "Thank you," he said again, "for caring." There was a small flame somewhere inside of him, and Allen kept holding on it, hoping that the choice of words with hit the right spot. He hoped that Lavi will not deny it. Not after everything he's done for him.

"Don't mistake my reasons," Lavi stated immediately, having had a hunch that things were going in that direction. "Because that isn't it. I just pride myself on knowin' things no one else does, and it just so happens no one else in this century and probably the one following it knows how to do what I just did." He smiled fakely. "Makes me valuable enough to keep around where I'd otherwise be unwanted is all, which makes my job easier, especially around someone like Kanda. Keepin' secret techniques no one else has is how people and civilizations have survived ahead of their fellows since the dawn o' Man."

Allen breathed deeply in, trying to calm down the sudden unpleasant spike of anger.

"Just stop it, please!" he whispered, closing his eyes. "This is just a big, stupid farce and you're not good at it anymore." He cleared his throat, grimacing at the pain again. "It would hurt me less if what you keep saying was true, but it isn't!"

 _It cannot be_ , he added in his mind.

"It doesn't really matter to me if you want to keep believing that, but it doesn't make it true. You heard yourself," Lavi returned, not allowing anything in his tone or expression to waver under Allen's pleas. "The only thing bookmen care about is our records. That's the only significance you or anyone else has to me. And when all is said and done, I'll simply move on to the next job, like none of it ever happened. You of all people should know that already."

Allen's pleading stare didn't waver.

"Leave then," he said calmly. "Your job is done here. You got all the information you need, you had your chance to search through all what the Apple contained. Leave and don't come back."

"I will," Lavi replied with a small shrug. "Once my job here is done, but as of yet, there are still some things I intend to record."

Standing, he set the remainder of the food within easy enough reach that he was sure Allen could handle the rest on his own. If not, Kanda would probably be back soon enough that it wouldn't be a problem.

"I'm interested to see whose hands it'll ultimately fall into in the end. Depending on how things play out from here, history might yet still need a recorder to pass on what happens afterwards." Lavi tossed back a slight wave over his shoulder. "If that'll be all, then I'll be returning to my place. Don't strain yourself in the meantime."

"When exactly have you become such a coward? Have you lied to her as well?" Allen asked, staring out of the window to hide his glistering eyes. Has the woman he met in China - the one Bak fancied as well...? "Never mind," he didn't want to know. Even to think about another person being forced to experience the same deceit made him sick.

Lavi was a pretty good actor, but even he had his limits. And Allen knew he was reaching them. He would not give up, especially not because he remembered the look on Lavi's face before he blacked out.

He watched the man's retreating back in silence.

"Is he still being an idiot?" Kanda asked a while later. He didn't need an answer - the look on Allen's face told the entire story.

"He's lying."

The swordsman scoffed, sitting down on the bed carefully. "He is." Kanda hummed, putting away all the empty plates so he could lay down. "-but who cares? Just forget about him and get better already. I'm tired of doing all the missions on my own."

Allen huffed in amusement and shuffled further on the bed so Kanda could get more comfortable. "You're awfully cuddly all of a sudden," he remarked with a wide grin.

"Tch, don't get used to it," the man warned, propping his head with his palm, resting his elbow above Allen's head.

Allen's next answer was only a hum and Kanda guessed that the entire conversation that took place before he came cost him a lot of power. He was fine with that, at least he couldn't tease him anymore. He knew that he was not tired enough to fall asleep, though, so Kanda started re-telling him everything that happened while he was out. He kept talking and talking until eventually they both fell asleep, more comfortable and at ease than ever before.

* * *

Lavi blinked and glanced up at the window of his room as moonlight peaked in. He wasn't sure what it was that had woken him - a sound… a smell… a sensation…? - but he knew better than to ignore whatever instinct was alerting him to some kind of potential danger.

His window was unbroken, and his door still appeared to be locked, so he didn't think he had to worry of an enemy inside. That didn't mean he could relax, however.

Slipping his boots on quickly and standing, he picked up his spear and made towards the window first, glancing out to see if he could spot anything worth worrying about, but the street was empty, bathed in shadow and silver light.

Going to the door, he unlocked and pulled it open, not immediately going out and watching for any signs of an enemy simply waiting to pounce, but still, there was an eerie stillness. He glanced to either side of the street outside from a good foot or two still within the doorway, before stepping out, and immediately whirling to face his spear above in case someone was just waiting to leap down from above.

Yet again, nothing.

Outwardly, he made it look as if he'd relaxed, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

Daring to venture a few more steps away from the building, he kept his senses trained, knowing - _feeling_ \- the presence of someone else close by, but out of view.

Was it one of the Assassins? Maybe sent as guards or to keep an eye on him for Allen or Kanda, but he didn't think as much, nor did he suspect that it was either of the two themselves, especially not with Allen bedridden and vulnerable.

He could think of one other off the top of his head who might have interest in finding him privately.

"I know you're there," he stated crisply, turning and watching the shadows as he did so for a figure. "Come thinking you could kill me too? Or is there something else you're after?"

"No, no. I would like to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, if at all possible." The voice was one he recognized, keeping his eye trained on Apollo as the man appeared, wearing a smile that he was sure was meant to put him at ease. Or perhaps the man was merely confident enough in his abilities to not need worry.

"So what do you want? If you're here for the Apple, you'll be disappointed to know that I don't have it."

"No, I suspect you don't," Apollo mused, eyeing him carefully. "Though I'm sure you have your own interests in it. You are a Bookman, after all, are you not?"

"Funny," Lavi said, carefully neutral. "Last time we spoke like this, that name didn't seem to mean anything to you."

"Well I've come into some new information since then," Apollo defended. "Your lot are a rather interesting bunch. Pursuers of history... you've been around as long as both the Templars and Assassins, albeit much more quietly."

Lavi only hummed, waiting for the man to get to the point.

"Or, perhaps to be more accurate, pursuers of the remnants that once belonged to the First Civilization. The Apple, for instance."

"Well I'm going to guess that you aren't here for a social visit," Lavi predicted, eyeing the man carefully and keeping a steady grip on his weapon, just in case. "And if you aren't here to kill me, then you must be hoping that I'll help you in some way."

"Very perceptive," Apollo grinned. "If you've thought ahead that far, then you must know what I want to ask."

"If you've heard of us bookmen - and you seem to know enough - then you should already know we don't take sides," Lavi pointed out. He could see the argument of his helping Allen's side itching on the man's face, deciding to speak ahead of him. "It just so happens that the Assassins have the Apple. I simply want to see how events around it play out."

Apollo nodded, but there was calculation in his eyes that the bookman didn't like.

"Then surely you've seen the damage it can do in the wrong hands? The Assassins have no idea how to use it, clearly, when their own are nearly killing themselves with it. Such people shouldn't try to wield that sort of weapon when they can't properly control it."

"And you think you can?" Lavi raised a brow. "First you would have to get your hands on it, and I have no reason to get it for you."

"Oh, but I'm sure you do. Its simply a matter of figuring out that reason. If we were to have the Apple, though, we could change things. Make this world a better place. No more strife, injustice, and wars. There would be peace and cooperation, but in _their_ hands, all they will do is waste its power on making no such progress, as they have already shown."

"Is that the same yarn you fed to Faulklin, as well?" Lavi guessed.

"You imply that I controlled or brainwashed him into doing anything," Apollo said, smiling sweetly. "But he was already one of us at heart. All he needed was a guiding hand."

Once more, Lavi only hummed, scrutinizing.

"Come now, even a hardened bookman must tire of the foolishness of humans and their constant warring." Lavi's eye flicked up in contemplation, and Apollo smiled further, taking that as invitation to continue. "With the Apple, all of that could end, but someone must be willing to take on such responsibility of creating change, and the Assassins are not up to it. The Apple will only continue to bring them misfortune."

Lavi had to admit, he was somewhat more interested in the ideas the older man pitched than he would like to be. He knew it was a manipulation, but it was a tempting one. Were the years that had worn on him really so visible? He'd like to think not, but Apollo was a cunning man, so it only stood to reason he might notice such subtleties.

He licked his lips in thought, carefully weighing his options. He wanted to ask what Apollo intended for Allen and the Assassins if he managed to obtain the Apple, but he didn't want to even so much as hint that it mattered to him, and he didn't think he would receive an honest answer anyway.

"Think carefully, now," Apollo continued, as Lavi remained silent in calculation. "All it would take is to lead the Apple to me, and I can make all of it go away. No more misery and war, anywhere in the world. We humans could reach our full potentially, and we could do it peacefully."

"Tell me more," Lavi prompted, deciding he would at least hear the man out. He could decide what to do afterwards. "So I know exactly what it is I'd be getting into. Then perhaps I'll have a proper answer for you."


	38. Next Course of Action

The physician told him he'll be back on his feet in at least six weeks. Allen was bothering Kanda with training in three.

It was as if he has been reborn. Nothing hurt - except the occasional sting in his ribs - he could breathe freely again and his heart pumped the blood around his body with renewed excitement. It felt incredible.

He wasn't bedridden that long, but taking into account the weakness before, he had much to catch up with. Kanda gave in with the training when the fourth week began and Allen couldn't be happier. He let the swordsman know just _how_ happy he was accordingly during the nights.

Everything was beginning to be like it was before - they argued, trained, ate together and slept together as if nothing happened. Kanda refused to treat Allen as if he was made of glass but even he couldn't help but swallow the bitter taste of worry when he saw Allen stumble from time to time. There was always a threat of the illness returning, but Allen assured him that everything was perfectly alright.

One evening when they lay together, tired and sweaty, Allen finally decided to mention the one thing he was sure would put Kanda to a bitter mood.

"Did you bury him?" he asked quietly, drawing lazy circles on the man's bare chest. He could point out the exact moment when Kanda's mood dropped. He heard a sigh, no answer, but he wasn't dropping the topic. "Did you?"

"I'm not telling you where."

Allen sighed, happily throwing himself on the other man. "Thank you," he whispered against his neck, repeating those words several more times. He knew Kanda was still angry about what he had done, but the boy deserved at least the burial. Allen slept much better that night.

There was one topic, however, they both avoided, and that was Lavi.

Kanda could tell when Allen was thinking about the redhead, just as he could tell how much it hurt. He would regularly find him on the roof of the den, brooding and depressed, but at least he wasn't stupid enough to blame himself. Kanda could tell he was trying to get over it, but it was Allen Walker and he didn't give up on friends that easily - which made a nice little lethal spot for the enemies to poke at.

Kanda himself was just edgy about Lavi. The last conversation they had before he decided to give the bookman the Apple still left him staring into the ceiling at certain nights. He'd saved Allen, but Kanda made a point to check on the artifact every evening anyway. The nagging feeling of something-is-going-to-happen churned in his stomach, but he kept his mouth shut. Allen was doing great, Kanda dared to say better than ever before.

Lavi showed up several times, joined a few missions but otherwise holed himself up in the library when he was around, other times retreating to his own home or disappearing entirely to gods only knew where. The black-haired assassin had half a mind in throwing him out entirely, but the wistful look on Allen's face stopped him.

Damn brat.

The causalities in their ranks also decreased, worryingly even, but even so, neither of the two assassins minded too much after all that happened. They allowed themselves to relax or just train for fun and that didn't happen that often. Allen even started training with his longsword again. His hands didn't shake anymore and the blade stood eerily still when he wielded it. Kanda found himself having some troubles in their fights. Regularly.

But Allen was alive and kicking again and everything seemed alright.

Lavi, for his part, mainly stuck around and involved himself in a few missions and activities here and there to monitor how Allen's health was fairing. He was inwardly glad that Allen was recovering, but he knew that a relapse could spell disaster, and on account that Allen had the tendency to hide his ailments and pretend good health, one had to watch him with a keen eye to catch when he truly _wasn't_ alright.

Most of it he left to Kanda, however. It wasn't merely that he didn't want to appear too close to Allen or as if he cared, but he also had a lot of things on his mind. Too many things, were truth be told.

He was distracted, but at the very least, he had the luxury to be distracted at the moment. Apollo was holding off on making any direct moves - planning and preparing his next ones for later, certainly - but for the moment, he was backing off, save for a handful of infrequent visits when there was no risk of the two being seen together conversing.

Lavi had some decisions to make, and he had to consider them carefully, to weigh his options. The library was an easy enough place to retreat to, and if anyone walked in looking for him, his intense concentration would have been easy enough to mistake for being focused on the open book in front of him, even when he wasn't really reading.

One thing he didn't fail to notice were the occasional glances of both Allen and Kanda. Kanda's especially sometimes hinted at distrust, despite Allen's earlier words that maybe the man would be more at ease around him now. It was probably for the better that Kanda didn't trust him though. It was always a good bet that trusting _any_ bookman to take and keep sides was rather naïve, to put it lightly.

The distance that he put between himself and them gave him proper solitude and time to think anyway, so he wasn't complaining in the least. There were a lot of possibilities to consider. A lot of scenarios, all the ways they could branch out, their likely and unlikely outcomes, and pitfalls to watch out for.

It was taking him a while to sort out, but with Kanda and Allen busy with the White Demon's triumphant rehabilitation, and Apollo's serpent-like patience, he had plenty of opportunity to sift through his thoughts properly.

It was the growl of a hungry gut that drew him out of his thoughts and he glanced up, looking around for Allen, before he realized with a small laugh that it was his own.

"Thinkin' so hard I'm forgetting to eat," he mused, pushing himself up and leaving the library. A glance outside told him that it was almost night, perfect time to have dinner. After fixing something up for himself, he sad down at one of the tables in the main room off in the corner. Even with dinner in front of him, his thoughts were still straying, running over one calculation after another.

His thinking, however, was cut short when he noticed Allen sitting down by him, putting down his own plate full of food in front of him. He could see Kanda from the corner of his eye shaking his head and heading upstairs.

Allen smiled at him with his way-too-bright smile and dug into his food, pretending everything was as it should be.

Lavi smirked faintly and rested his chin on palm. At least some things didn't change, even if some of those things could become annoying at times.

"You sure appear to be in a bright mood," he noted idly, pausing in his own eating momentarily while Allen stuffed his face.

"And you look more gloomy than ever," Allen returned immediately, his smile not faltering, "something bothering you?"

"Gloomy?" Lavi raised a brow, before shaking it off. "No, not particularly. Just thinking about a lot of things. Anyway, any idea how you're going to confront Apollo? Now that you appear to be feeling better an' all."

After mentioning the man, the whitehead's smile shrunk slightly.

"Well, he hasn't been as active as before, but we're trying to lure him out. He's been very careful lately," he sighed. "Do you have any ideas? What thoughts made you forget your hunger?" he asked, pointedly looking at the redhead's gut.

Lavi sighed silently.

"I just have the feeling that this is the calm before the storm, that's all," Lavi said, knowing he wasn't being entirely honest about it being _just a feeling_ , but he refrained from saying as much. "My feelings on such things aren't normally wrong, if past experiences have told me anything. If you're going to come out victorious, you'll need a good plan. A straightforward conflict won't work against him, and he's clever enough not to be fooled easily."

Allen flexed his fists momentarily, looking thoughtful.

"Maybe a straightforward fight is what would really solve it this time. It has been a game until now. Maybe we used too many strategies." He looked up, taking a deep breath. "You... will be fighting with us, right?"

"I'll definitely be there," Lavi said, cracking a small smile. "This could be the fight that decides everything, after all. Anyway, even when we've tried to lure him out, Apollo has never really shown himself off of his own terms. A straightforward fight is going to be difficult to pull off because of that," he pointed out, pausing and looking thoughtful once more. "I'm not saying its impossible, but it will be difficult, and he could simply escape again like before."

Allen looked quite relieved at that point and returned to his food. After a while he looked up, continuing on a lighter note but the tension in his shoulders was still present.

"So, is Bookman still in the city?" he looked around, as if he was searching for him.

"Gramps? I highly doubt it. I imagine he's got better things to do," Lavi mused. At least he hoped as much. He hadn't felt as if he was under watch like before.

"Oh, right," the assassin cleared his throat awkwardly, staring at his plate," I-"

"Hey, sprout!" Kanda's call cut shot whatever he wanted to say. Allen excused himself with a sight and walked over to the older man who whispered something in his ear. Allen turned to wave at Lavi with a small smile and then followed Kanda upstairs.

Lavi merely offered somewhat of a wave back, returning to his food and his thoughts, letting his gaze wander the room for on reason other than what was probably a vain hope that he would be struck by inspiration or revelation.

Turned out it wasn't quite such a vain hope as his single eye lingered over a desk in the corner of the room, holding a variety of items on the small shelves built into the rear half of it.

_Maybe...?_

He paused that thought to quickly finish his food, choking it down before he hopped to his feet and sauntered over. There were all sorts of things stored in it, from gunpowder to lamb's blood to common flour, as well as empty porcelain jars and half-circle shells, which he idly picked up and examined in his palm, before setting it down and drumming a finger as he played with a couple of scenarios in his head.

If he played his cards _just_ right...

"Yeah... that _could_ just work..." he murmured under his breath. First he was going to need some preparation though. As well as the key piece in all of this.

Sauntering up the steps, he paused outside Allen and Kanda's shared room, rapping his knuckles on the door and waiting.

There was a brief moment of shuffling and an exasperated sigh that was unmistakably Kanda's before the lock licked and the door swung open, revealing a screen of thick smoke and Allen in his undergarments. He awkwardly shifted on his feet and smiled when Kanda growled _´get out´_ from the bed.

"Yeah?" the whitehead chuckled nervously.

Lavi hesitated only long enough to fan smoke away from his face. "Sorry to bug ya, but I need to see the Apple for a moment," he said.

Kanda sat up on the bed straighter as Allen's brow furrowed. He briefly glanced back at the swordsman.

"Um, why exactly?"

"I'm playing around with an idea on how we can use it to gain an advantage next time you face Apollo, an' I think it just might be the edge you'll need to finally get 'im."

Allen's brow still didn't relax. He looked as if he wanted to say something more, but just when it looked as if he is going to voice whatever was on his mind, he turned around and marched to the bed, reaching towards the far corner.

"Moyashi," Kanda warned in his native tongue, his black eyes moving from the whitehead to Lavi, watching him with a frown that clearly said how much he liked the idea.

Allen ignored him and returned to the door with the golden object in his left hand. He hesitated before offering it to the bookman and when he dropped it into his hand, Allen looked up staring at him with his rare silver eyes.

"I hope it's a good plan," he said in the end, and the redhead knew that was really not what he meant.

Lavi nodded, tousling Allen's hair affectionately before bouncing off down the hall.

"Since when do I ever come up with a plan that ain't good?" he tossed over his shoulder, bounding down the steps to get to work with a bit more energy than was common at such an hour.

Allen slowly closed the door, taking a second to stand by it, staring at the knob. Kanda was silent and the whitehead didn't have to look at him to see that the man was displeased with his actions. His words, however, surprised Allen. In a pleasant kind of way.

"So much for the mood."

Allen almost laughed. But seeing that Kanda was - for the first time, he mentally noted - not in the mood for arguments, the whitehead joined him in the bed, lying down. Kanda raised his brow in question and did the same, sighing as he scratched his chest.

"I am going to take all the responsibility," Allen said quietly.

"As usual," the swordsman scoffed. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Allen stayed silent, but he couldn't agree more. It wasn't that he didn't trust Lavi - okay, maybe his trust wavered a little bit after their last argument - but still...

The words Demir said so long ago unpleasantly echoed in his ears and he couldn't help himself but to cringe.


	39. Setting the Stage

Lavi had to wait until morning to really get to proper work on what he wanted to do, but just having the Apple in his position gave him a bit of time to plan and ponder properly before going ahead and doing so.

He went off to the blacksmith's bright and early, before Allen or Kanda even appeared to have woken up, needing to get a box and create a clay mold, which meant he then had to pick bits of clay out of crevices of the Apple afterwards. Even so, it was worth it, once he had the thin half-circles crafted from poured metal, which took more than one attempt to get right.

That turned out to be the easy part. The harder part was obtaining gold leaf. None of the merchants at the bazaar had any, nor the private shops. He scoured the docks and incoming trade ships hourly before finally finding one that sold what he needed, as well as a couple other supplies.

When he had all that he needed, he holed himself up in the library at the den, only stopping what he was doing inside long enough to tend to the most bare necessities like food and drink, before going right back to work. It took him the better part of the day and night to get it all done, but he was satisfied with his work once he had finished, smiling smugly at his craftsmanship.

Oh yes, this was _definitely_ one of his more brilliant ideas thus far.

It was the next afternoon when he finally felt ready to reveal what he had in mind to his companions, knowing from the earlier looks that Allen and Kanda were probably both edgy about what he had in mind, but he didn't think they'd be disappointed.

He found them at lunch time where they were eating, he himself looking tired but accomplished as he flopped down on one of the pillows.

"Mornin' all~" he greeted.

Kanda immediately sent an ugly frown his way, whereas Allen managed to put a smile on his face, greeting back.

"You seem rather happy today," the whitehead commented, sipping from his cup.

"Do I? Hadn't noticed," Lavi hummed. This, of course, being a blatant lie. But it hardly mattered. "So, you want this back now?" Lavi questioned, producing and setting the Apple on the table in front of him. He gave it a few seconds, looking far too proud, before he produced a _second_ one and set it down, side-by-side with the first. "...or perhaps its _this_ one you want?"

Kanda's frown deepened as he set down his cup and straightened his back.

"Lavi," Allen started nervously, "what... this is what you needed the Apple for? To make a replica?" It sure was a good idea - the orbs looked exactly the same - but something dark and ugly started whispering in the back of Allen's head, and the words weren't pretty. He forced a smile on his face anyway. "That is really impressive!"

"It isn't only a replica," Lavi said, ignoring the look Kanda gave him as his own smile broadened. "What Apollo wants out of you is the Apple more than anything, so I say, why not give it to him?" he began, his single eye sparkling with cunning.

No one - absolutely _no one_ \- knew how to troll better than he did. Most of the time it was in mostly harmless fun, like when he played pranks on Allen, but now it was going to come in handy for real.

"This one is the original," he said, rolling it to Allen across the table, before he held up the other between both hands. "This fake isn't simply for show, though. It's got a nasty kick to it." His eye deliberately wandered to the table of supplies for bomb-crafting. "It's a bit more... _disarming_ than its original, but Apollo won't be able to tell the difference until its in-hand. And by then, well..."

Lavi grinned proudly. He was sure the other two would easily catch where he was going with this without further elaboration.

Allen weighted the Apple and then took the other one, doing the same. And for real, the second one was slightly lighter and just had a different quality to it. It wasn´t as cold as the real one.

"This is... genius!" he gasped, his eyes flickering from one to the other, "but how are we going to lure him out now?"

"That's the part we have to figure out next," Lavi hummed, glowing beneath the praise. "But what you said the other day got me thinking. Maybe being straightforward really _is_ what you need to get the better of Apollo, but straightforward can also be underhanded. Apollo's gotta have eyes somewhere in the city, besides just himself. That means we can be the ones to set the meeting place. I think that if we can make it convincing enough that we intend to give up the Apple, he'll show up, and there's no way for him to know about the replica, so he won't hesitate to take it."

"And how are we going to convince him of that?" Kanda finally spoke up, his voice laced with distrust. Allen sent a look his way which he ignored and sighed.

"He should still be tempted to go after me..." Allen trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid. Kanda redirected his frown at his lover instead this time.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

"Normally I'd be one to agree with Yuu, but actually, if we go about it carefully, that could work," Lavi speculated. "While I've been out, I've been tracing how the informant network works around here, and its pretty extensive, as should be expected from a big port city. All we have to do is pass along a piece of information to the right person, and it'll trickle down the chain until it reaches Apollo. While we wait for the information of the meeting place to reach him, we can prepare accordingly and set the stage."

Allen vehemently agreed, perking up like a pup. "Lavi is right, you have to admit that, plus I have never felt better!" he grinned at the redhead, just glowing with happiness. "You'll both be there, so there's nothing to worry about and this whole thing could be finally over!"

Kanda looked skeptical as he picked up his cup again and took a deep swing. "Alright," he said, "time to check all the gear then," was all he added before he stood up and headed towards the underground tunnels.

Allen looked after him for a while, his happiness deflating slightly.

"I don't know what's wrong with him," he said. "I am not lying about how I'm feeling - I really feel like I have been reborn! Thank's to you of course!" Allen smiled again, handing Lavi back the fake Apple and pocketing the original.

"He's probably just weary with everything having to do with Apollo," Lavi shrugged. He added with a little laugh, "we can't all be as young and spry as you, 'sprout. Anyway, while he's working on that, I'll see if I can't work another miracle with the city informants."

Allen nodded, finishing his plate and cup.

"Can I tag along?" he asked after realizing that there was basically nothing for him to do at that point.

Lavi considered refusing, but after some thought, he decided that would probably be for the better anyway, considering that they hadn't yet settled on where would be the most beneficial place to set up their ambush.

"Sure thing. We can take a look around the city and decide where would be a good spot to set the meeting place at. I sort of need that bit of information before I can proceed very far on my task anyway."

Allen's face lit up with a way-too-bright smile as he stood up and adjusted his belts, giving one last look towards the tunnels. The situation made him forget all the bad things that happened between him and Lavi and suddenly, the day seemed just slightly better.

"Say," the whitehead started as they walked down the street, "where do you want to go next? I mean, after everything is over?"

Lavi blinked, not having expected the question.

"Well... that's all kind of up in the air until I'm done here. Really it depends on what's going on elsewhere in the world, but anyway, if I get my pick of anywhere in the world, I'd really like to see that new continent across the sea. The one they found tryin' to find a faster way to India. Chances o' that happening might be slim though, at least for a few years."

Allen hummed dreamily. "That sounds good. Wait, they found a new continent?" he perked up, "I thought Nihon was all there was that way."

The whitehead grimaced briefly at the mention of his mentor, and was not quick enough to hide it. He shook it off, however, and continued. "Can you tell me more about it?" he asked hopefully, mentally imagining what new types of food could be found there.

"Not much is known about it," Lavi admitted with a little laugh. "But that's why I want to go. There are people inhabiting it though, whole nations of people with reddish skin. They live more like people in the tribes of Africa than like Europeans even though the climate is more forest and mountains than hot desert and grassland, or so I've heard, and they found new types of birds and animals there too. From what I understand, there are already small colonies being built over there. Beyond that, I don't really know anything."

Allen listened to him with wonder written all over his face, greedily absorbing every information the man provided. "I need to talk Kanda into going there!" he exclaimed. "It sounds so unbelievable!" It was very improbable that Kanda would agree to go there, especially since he intended to return to his own country after everything is over, but it would still be nice if they could travel a little bit before settling down.

Lavi merely smiled. It was good to see Allen so lively again and more carefree than he'd been in such a long time. He almost hated to ruin it, but they had something to handle first before they started daydreaming about adventuring to new places.

"Well, anyway, let's focus again on trying to figure out where to set up the place of meeting, shall we?"

Allen nodded, still seeming distracted by his dreamy thoughts. "So, I was thinking," he began, bouncing a little bit as he walked, "someplace without people would be understandable. I know few, like the old cemetery in the Imperial district. Only few people go there. Also, I heard they are re-constructing the Bayezid Mosque so that should be void of people as well."

Lavi paused to consider that. "The graveyard would probably be a good bet," he agreed. "It's isolated, not much to use as cover or a way to escape. It would be good for a straight-forward fight, if that's what you're going for, and with the city wall to one side, he would only have so many directions to flee to if it came to that. Plus, the buildings are a fair distance away, and that way, reaching them and climbing out of range would be difficult, if not impossible."

Allen hummed in agreement. "There is the question of desecrating the burial grounds but I would rather walk over bones than bodies of innocent bystanders."

"Well graves are pretty deep," Lavi mused. "The phrase _six feet under_ is quite literal, after all. They have to be, otherwise animals will dig up the graves to scavenge the corpses. If anything, the tombstones themselves might get damaged, but those can be replaced if need be with new stones. Either way, there shouldn't be too much clean-up in the aftermath."

"Right, so, if you have no other suggestions, we have a place. Now how are we going to get the hunter out of his hole?"

"You leave that part to me," Lavi offered up with a reassuring smile. "I just have to find a couple o' people that like to talk and weave a few lies to reach Apollo's ears with. You should probably go an' see how Yuu is doing with his preparations and if he needs you to do anything," he suggested.

"Well, actually," he started, "I came to... _deal_ with certain people. It has come to my attention that the heralds have been spreading some words they were not supposed to, so naturally, I have to fix that."

Lavi nodded, not making a big deal out of it and motioning ahead.

"After you then, good sir. Let's go deal with your heralds and see if we can't find the contacts I had in mind in the meantime."

Allen wasn't too happy about losing three hundred silver coins to three different heralds, but according to his grumbling it was better than cross-dressing again.

"Greedy bastards!" he cursed, weighing his money pouch with an over-dramatic look on his face, "my poor money!"

Lavi chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. "You'll get it back somehow, I'm sure, once bigger problems are out of the way," he sympathized. "Assassination contracts ain't cheap, after all, and soon enough you'll be more free to go about regular business."

"I can't wait," he commented dryly, sending his pouch a last withering look.

It made him think of how many debts he had to pay for his master, which lead him to think about the man himself, which resulted in bad memories resurfacing. Allen sighed, squatting his shoulders and rising his chin. Cross could take care of himself, without doubt, but even he had his limits. Maybe he will show up after everything is over... but then there is the very possible threat of debts hanging over his head like a sword of Damocles.

Anyway, it would make Allen feel much better to know whether the womanizing master of his is still alive or not...

Lavi didn't say anything else, instead glancing around.

"Doesn't look like any of the people I had in mind are very out and active today," he mused. He certainly couldn't very well meet with Apollo with Allen tagging along, much less in broad daylight, so he would have to settle for later. "Anyway, why don't we head back? At the very least, we'll be able to tell Kanda about where we decided on having as the meeting place."

"Hmm? Oh, yeah," Allen looked slightly confused but he opted to stay silent. "I thought... - never mind."

They found the swordsman in his usual place in the corner of the den, smoking. Allen took a seat next to him, rudely taking the pipe out of his mouth while he was in the middle of a drag, totally ignoring the frown the man gave him.

"We found a good place," Allen informed, slumping into the pillows, "and silenced a few rude mouths."

"The graveyard on the far side of town," Lavi supplied when Allen took a pause for a smoke of his own. "Well away from any buildings or escapes, and less likelihood for accidental casualties or anything of the like."

"Good," Kanda growled, retrieving the pipe again and elbowing Allen in his ribs when he protested, "and your contacts?"

"Scarce, but I'll find them before long," Lavi smirked, propping his chin on palm. "The best informants are rarely easy to find, for good reason."

"How is the gear?" Allen asked, reaching for the pipe again, but getting his hand slapped away.

"Good," Kanda replied, leaning away from the whitehead's reach, "your armor though..." He trailed off, making Allen pause and tilt his head in confusion.

"What's wrong with my armor?"

"Smells kind of funny."

Allen retracted his hands and shifted in his seat, gnawing on his lower lip. "It's nothing," he said, staring at his hands. "It's really... nothing."

Lavi glanced between them curiously, noting Allen's sudden edginess, but he pushed the thought aside and stood.

"Well, tomorrow I'll try again to find someone to pass our bait along. Going to head back to my own place 'til then." He paused to stifle a yawn. "I never really slept last night, what with making the replica an' all."

"Good night, Lavi. Rest well!" Allen wished, waving at the man as he went his way.

"So, the armor..." Kanda cocked his eyebrow in question.

"Just, leave it be. You don't want to know."

Kanda's irritated sigh was a sign that he is not going to poke him about it anymore but he was visibly not satisfied with the answer.

"Would a pleasant night spent with me take your mind off it?" the whitehead teased.

"Tempting..."

Allen was glad to see a smile tugging at the other man's lips. He knew he has just safely avoided a bad argument.

 


	40. The Final Confrontation

A few more days passed, with no sign of Apollo, not counting the one visit he afforded Lavi when it was certain that no one would be around to see them save for the redhead himself.

He passed along the message to the man, though perhaps not entirely everything that Allen or Kanda would have wanted him to. Apollo seemed to expect a trap, and Lavi's own words both confirmed that for him and pleased the older Templar to know for certain. The fact that the Apple was part of the trap came as no surprise to him.

Whether or not passing along the meeting place by informants was a lie or not - half-lie, he would say, technically - he still had some leg-work to do in finding someone to help his ruse along. He had someone particular in mind, deciding familiarity, even if it was sparse, would be better than finding someone neither Allen nor Kanda knew at all.

That led him back to Demir, or rather, leaving a hint for Demir to find him, since the man, much like Apollo, only showed himself on his own terms and on his own time.

It was easy enough to get the man in on what he wanted, considering he would do or say basically anything so long as he was paid to.

When he had everything set up as he needed, he went back to the den, informing his companions that all they would have to do now was wait for the information to reach Apollo.

Demir, as was planned already, showed up some time later, rapping his knuckles on the wall to more or less draw attention and announce himself, and not really bothering with a proper invitation to enter the main room ahead of time, equally as intrusive and arrogant as every other time.

"Knock-knock. Hello again, little flower~"

Allen raised his head, slightly startled but his surprise soon bled into some kind of fond exasperation. It was, however, good to see that he was back to his always-pleasant behavior and way-too-big smiles.

"Demir," he said, nodding his head in greeting, putting a hand on Kanda's arm, to stop him from drawing his sword and cutting the man into pieces. "Fancy to see you! How are you faring?"

Alright, so maybe he was back to his old self, but he still hasn't forgiven the man for the nickname - if the strong sarcasm expertly hidden behind his polite words was any indication.

Kanda was silently murdering the man with his eyes, grinding his teeth so hard that Lavi almost winced at the sound.

"Busy," Demir hummed, crossing his arms and leaning on the wall, though with some notable enough distance between him and Kanda. He was bold, but not stupid enough to press his luck more than he already was. "As you seem to have been as well, from what my birds tell me. Exploding buildings, some falling-outs... some say you rose from the dead, and you even managed to kill off the blacksmith's boy... shame, that. I rather liked him." He sounded less distraught over it than his words implied, more as if he was talking of the weather. "-but I guess it can't be helped, when dogs go rabid."

Allen's face lost its happy shine after the boy was mentioned. At that moment, Kanda decided to intervene.

"Enough," he barked, covering Allen's hand with his own in a silent reassurance and hoping the gesture would go mostly unnoticed. "What do you want?"

The men present in the hall stilled and focused on the man leaning against the doorframe at the sound of Kanda's voice, ready to spring into action if needed. The sudden lack of murmurs and the tension in the air was almost palpable. Allen's subtle gesture made the men relax, but only slightly, and even if they went back to whatever they were doing, none of them let their eyes off the _guest_.

"You've been leaving bread crumbs," Demir mused, appearing entirely unaffected by the sudden intensity in the air, looking perhaps a touch smug at the reaction he garnered, for better or worse. "Birds love bread crumbs. Word gets around. Your Italian friend, the Templar, has accepted your invitation to settle everything to its finality, as it were."

"Good," Kanda's tone and face turned unnaturally pleasant, which, of course, only lasted for a second until he was back at scowling. "Now get out."

"What," Allen interrupted, "what is the payment?"

"Oh, I can assure you, I've already been paid for this," Demir cooed. "When all is said and done however, you still owe me a demonstration, as you should recall, for first informing you of his name." He pushed off the doorframe, idly stretching his back in an arch. "That is, of course, assuming that you emerge victorious."

Allen straightened his back and raised his chin in determination.

"But of course I will," he said, and his words rang so clear and strong it seemed that doubting him was the most foolish thing a man could do. Kanda grinned at him briefly, satisfied with his partner's iron determination.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though." The swordsman turned to Demir again, his grin gaining a rather vicious, provocative shade. "We do have to take into account that you might not be able to live that long. Accidents _do_ happen."

Pinching Kanda's thigh as hard as he could, Allen continued, gracing the informant with a briliant smile. "But of course, Demir. I stand by my words."

Demir merely smirked at that.

"Good. I look forward to it. Well then... as they say back in Italia, _arrivederci ea presto_!" He offered a sweeping bow, almost mockingly so, before walking off into the streets.

"Well he's still as pleasant as ever," Lavi mused with a hint of sarcasm, having otherwise remained silent up to that point.

"And dead pretty soon," Kanda growled, jerking his head towards the exit. Two assassins immediately stood up and bolted outside without any further inquiry.

Allen stared at him in disbelief. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing?" Kanda answered, looking way too satisfied with himself. "Merely making sure I won't ever hear his annoying voice. Ever. Again."

"Why?" the whitehead screeched, throwing his hands in the air. Kanda refused to elaborate but Lavi was pretty sure it was partially because of Demir's nickname for Allen. He briefly recalled how livid the man was when Demir made his last appearance at the den, gifting his lover with a harmful little flower.

"You sure know how to show your gratitude, Yuu," Lavi mused somewhat sarcastically, before shrugging. "Anyway, Demir aside, there are other, more pressing people to worry about now. I imagine Apollo won't go down easily, even with our improved odds."

"I will show my gratitude by killing him swiftly."

"Stop it!" Allen scolded, slapping his arm. "What's gotten into you again? He's helping us! Anyway," he said, turning to Lavi now, "I think the three of us with the advantage of the bomb will be able to deal with him rather easily."

He was confident, yes, more so because he opted not to voice his final decision of using the Apple again if the plan was to fail. He swore he would protect it until his last breath and he intended to hold to that oath until he wouldn't be able to keep walking again.

Lavi nodded his agreement, keeping some of his own decisions to himself.

"Hopefully so. Once we manage to catch him off guard, the tables should turn in your favor. With any luck, this'll be the end of it."

"No," Allen protested with determination, "this _will_ be the end of it - there's no other option anymore."

"Then we should get ready," Lavi mused, smiling faintly.

Not long after, the two assassins Kanda had sent out returned, Demir having given them the slip almost as quickly as his unannounced appearance. Regardless and though somewhat unhappy about it, the man was more focused on the greater evil that was Apollo.

Suffice to say, that meant both Allen and Kanda arming themselves to the teeth and the toes, readying themselves for a battle that they hoped would go smoothly and more easily than past attempts. Lavi was a little more minimalistic in arming himself, mainly only opting for his spear. If all went according to their discussed plans, he wouldn't need much weaponry or armor anyway.

Most of the rest of the assassins were ordered back, partially for fear Apollo might not show otherwise and partially for their own safety while Allen, Kanda, and Lavi would deal with the threat.

After being armored up and armed, they headed out towards the Imperial District on the opposite side of the city, to the graveyard where they were meant to meet with Apollo. Lavi allowed Allen and Kanda to lead the way, taking up the rear. He'd like to say he'd gotten a fairly good handle of the rooftop navigation by now, though Allen and Kanda still had him bested in practice and skill with it.

The graveyard in the far corner was a fair ways from any buildings, forcing them to drop back down to ground level and walk. They reached the location first, though it was probably a fair bet to guess that Apollo was near and watching, likely to make sure they didn't bring the entire Assassin Order to the rendezvous.

Even so, they didn't need to wait long.

They stood in the shadow of the chapel, peaking around the corner to scan the soon-to-be battlefield. Allen nervously fidgeted with the hilt of his monstrous silvery greatsword that was strapped to his back, and Lavi had to admit that he had some difficulties understanding just how was the whitehead able to stay as agile as before with _that_ on his back.

Kanda looked as stoic as ever but he, too, wasn't able to conceal his nervousness fully, going by how he fisted his own sword.

Lavi watched them exchange a non-verbal message before Allen walked out of the shadows and loaded the mechanism on his left arm, shooting the wall at the other side of the graveyard.

The sound that rang out was clear and concise, a boom that disturbed the otherwise stiflingly still air.

He took note of his companion's tension as he hung off to the side slightly, resting his spear-point into the ground and both hands idly resting on top of the opposite end, the only hint of his own edginess being the silent tapping of one index finger against his knuckles.

Within moments, Apollo appeared, not far from where Allen had fired, walking with such casual confidence it was almost blatantly arrogant. Lavi knew, though, that he had little reason not to be. He stopped not far, though certainly with enough distance to react should any of them try something sudden.

Allen said nothing. His face twisted into a frown as he took a few steps closer, his shoulders tense and pose rigid. Kanda stalked forward as well, but stopped few paces behind Allen, his eyes never leaving the Templar.

"And so here we are at last," Apollo hummed when it became apparent that Allen and Kanda had nothing to say, whether because they were waiting for him or they could not think of how to begin. "I'm told that you are ready to give in, and surrender the Apple to me." When Allen went to reach for it - or rather, the replica - he spoke and halted him, his revealing words causing them to go slightly rigid. "Oh, I wouldn't bother with taking it out to use against me. You think I'm unwise to your intentions, but I already know the trap you intend to spring, in its entirety. You and I both know we aren't here for bloodless resolution."

Allen's heart jumped into his throat. He looked at Kanda, his eyes wider than before, desperately trying to cover his panic and failing. Kanda returned his gaze mutely and then slowly drew his sword.

"What are you going on about?" he barked, carefully shifting into an offensive stance. Allen also reached for his sword but couldn't help but to glance behind where Lavi was. Of whom Lavi was making it a point not to look back at him, expression unreadable and focused more on Apollo than anything else.

"Well, to be honest, even had I not been told of it, I would have been a fool not to suspect," Apollo told them, toying idly with a weapon of his own, not seeming overly concerned with Kanda's new stance brandishing his sword. "Both of you have been tenacious thorns in my side for a long time, and I'm not dim enough to believe you would simply give it up, even after all of my efforts thus far to tire you."

Allen's hand slid down from the handle of his sword. "Then let´s end it here," he said, his voice disturbingly calm.

Kanda shifted, gritting his teeth. "You are not going to use it - not while I still draw breath. Don't you dare!" he whispered loudly enough only for Allen to hear. They were both drawn to the edge of a cliff with no way out but using the Apple was not an option. Not anymore.

They both knew what Apollo meant, and yet they both waited for someone to say it out loud.

Kanda was ready to turn around and charge if needed but he didn't dare to let his eyes stray from the Templar.

Apollo's smile broadened, carrying a hint of deadly confident malice just beneath the surface.

"Yes, let us finally see the end of it," he agreed, his gaze shifting over to Lavi as the redhead lifted his weapon up properly. "After all, with two on each of our sides, it will be much more of an even match this time."

Kanda's arms shook with rage but he couldn't look over at Allen. With a roar he charged forward, missing Apollo by a hair's breath.

Allen slowly turned around, waiting for Lavi to come completely out. "I'm not going to fight you," he said, squaring his shoulders.

Lavi stared back at him, though there was nothing in his demeanor to suggest a bluff, and his tone was frigid.

"Then don't. You can simply surrender the Apple over, and that will be that," he said, pausing for a moment, before he shrugged. "At least, that's what I would recommend, but both of us know that you won't." He turned to face Allen properly, brandishing his weapon and giving Allen a few seconds to prepare himself at least. "If that truly turns out to be the case, then I'll just have to take it from you by force, though I'd hope you'd make it easy."

Allen bit his lower lip and frowned in defiance, raising his chin higher as if to dare Lavi to attack. He tried not to flinch at the sounds of the battle between Kanda and Apollo in the background.

He held Lavi's gaze and forced himself to relax and swallow down his madly beating heart.

"Very well, then," Lavi muttered, pausing only long enough to adjust his grip on his weapon and then leaping forward, taking a jab at the white-haired male with the point of his spear.

Allen dodged in the last second, sustaining only a scratch on his armored chest.

"Why?" he gasped, backing away from the redhead, tortured by his own mind that screamed at him to draw his weapon and defend himself.

Lavi took another swipe, missing as Allen leapt back away from him without drawing a single weapon against him. He couldn't help but crack a smirk, one that was mirthless and weary, making him appear far too old and tired.

"Why? Because I'm exhausted with the human condition. Of wars, and the greed and prejudice that causes them. As just one man, there's not much I can do, and as a bookman, there's even less, but its exactly because of the path I've been on that I can see that so clearly. Our kind has had more than ten thousand years to achieve peace and end all wars, but all we've managed to do is decline further and further. With the Pieces at their disposal, the Templars will end that." He frowned, his expression once again turning as fortified as steel, readying to attack again. "I want to finally see it. A world free from wars and suffering. I won't let anyone, not even you, get in the way of that."

Allen almost stumbled when he heard that. Another slash and stab, this time making his hand reach for his weapon but he caught himself before his fingers even brushed against the hilt.

"What happened to the ´ _never interfere_ rule in your books?!" he said, surprising himself with his own spiteful tone.

"When the world is free of wars, there'll be no need for bookmen," he said simply. "And then, no need for such rules."

He charged in again, and managed to just barely nick the side of Allen's face with a small laceration from the tip of his spear, far too close to his eye for anyone's comfort.

"Are you listening to yourself?! La-" So taken aback by the words, Allen failed to notice a gravestone behind him and tripped, ending up on his back. Despite being used to the weight of the sword when on his feet, it proved to be a big disadvantage when he was lying on the ground. He had to roll to the side to dodge the spear that hit the ground where his chest has been just a second ago, clumsily scrambling to his feet and stumble again under the weight.

He parried the next attack with his hidden blade and growled.

"Stop this nonsense!"

The only answer he received was an abrupt change of direction of Lavi's weapon, using the blunt end to smack him in the side of the head and stun him, followed by a kick that the redhead aimed at his gut to send him sprawling.

The whitehead cursed, finding himself on the ground for the second time, barely dodging the spear again.

"Idiot! Draw your sword!" he heard Kanda yell from where he was trying to keep Apollo from advancing.

"I will not fight him!" Allen yelled back and parried again which left his right tingling unpleasantly.

Lavi, however, didn't appear to have any such same reservations. He didn't even flinch when his spear caught Allen's side, leaving it faintly tinged red, and his blade came far too close to Allen's neck at one point as he advanced with his attacks, most others of which Allen managed to parry or dodge.

"Idiot!" Kanda yelled from the distance when the whitehead sunk to one knee. Apollo used the distraction to bring his dagger into the swordsman's shoulder and kick him to the side.

"Is this the great legacy of Neah Campbell? What a shame you turned out to be - I'm sure he would be disappointed," Apollo taunted as he slowly made his way towards him.

"Shut your mouth!" Allen spat, the weak spark of confusion and betrayal turning into a fullfledged flame of rage. "How dare you speak of him you murderer!"

Kanda groaned on the ground and stood up. He knew exactly where this was going - mentioning the one thing that made Allen feel sore and angry even after all those years. He didn't know what exactly happened, but he knew enough to fill in the gaps. Apollo was trying to bait the sprout, force him to lash out in anger and recklessness and he was doing a great job at it.

He knew exactly how reckless Allen could get and the fact that the real Apple still sat in the pouch on his side did not help Kanda's worry.

"Don't listen to him!" the swordsman tried again, collecting himself and charging again.

"It makes me think about how he called your name before he died!" the man sneered.

Lavi looked between them for a moment, recalling something from before. Allen had mentioned something of a man called Neah, a friend of his who died. It was no mystery that Apollo, going by his words, had been responsible.

He saw Allen reach for his sword and turn his sights on Apollo, and the redhead jumped in to block his way, catching the edge of the sword with his spear length. The power behind it was no small force either, and for a moment he couldn't help but be glad that Allen was unlikely to use it fully against him, unlike Apollo.

He shoved Allen back and advanced forward, seeking to put some distance between them and Apollo, while Kanda rejoined the fight to take away the other man's attention.

"Lavi," Allen warned, aiming the tip of his disturbingly big blade at the redhead, "step away."

Lavi eyed Allen's sword with a healthy respect for its size, but he didn't waver. If that weapon managed to gain a lot of momentum, it could prove a real problem, so he determined he would simply have to make sure it couldn't.

"Not a chance," he answered simply, lunging forward and using his lighter weapon to his advantage to make quick movements that would hopefully serve to impede Allen's so that he couldn't use his blade effectively.

Except the weight of the sword didn't really do much to slow Allen down.

The whitehead swung it around, narrowly missing Lavi's side and Allen's delicate weight really worked in his advantage when instead of stopping the sword to swing the other way, he spun around thanks to the momentum and parried the bookman's attack.

"I am not here to fight you! Move!" the whitehead yelled and attacked again, this time swinging downwards.

Lavi lifted his weapon to block the swing, the force of which splintered one of the segments as the two impacted. He hissed and couldn't help but think unhappily that something may have _also_ splintered in his arm closest to where it hit, a sharp pain traveling from wrist to elbow.

Allen - naturally - used the moment to try and rush past him, but he caught the man with the length of his spear handle and twisted him back around, shoving him the opposite way he intended to go.

Ignoring the pain in his arm, he rushed forward, and Allen was forced to block one of his own blows. They traded a few more for a moment, and Lavi had a moment to glance over at Kanda and Apollo, noting they were a suitable enough distance away for his purposes.

He blocked another attack headed his way, openly wincing as the same arm from earlier gave under sharp pain, but ignored it again.

"Allen, I need you to listen to me carefully, and do as I say without question," he ground out from teeth clenched against the small inferno in his arm, his tone willing the white-haired man to listen to him and voice low enough not to be overheard. "I'm going to come at you again. Use your smoke bombs when I do, and make it big."

The drastic change of tone in Lavi's voice made Allen's anger pop like a bubble. He eyed him hesitantly, taking a few steps back and craning his neck to see how Kanda was faring before focusing back at the redhead.

It was a gamble. Fifty-fifty chance that Lavi would bluff and kill him and yet the way he said it made everything so different. He stared the man in the eye, searching for something that would help him see his real intentions, but Lavi was a pretty damn good actor and he wasn't sure.

Questions and doubts - and Allen didn't have the luxury to find answers to them.

So when Lavi charged again, he grabbed a pair of smoke bombs and smashed them against the dirt, letting himself fall to the ground when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

When the smoke cleared, Allen lay soaked in blood.


	41. Severing the Head from the Serpent

The redhead was more glad for the cooperation than he could voice, though he was sure it partially had to do with Allen's surprise and uncertainty. That, though, had been somewhat of the point. The cloud of smoke was thick, he could barely make out Allen's form through it, and was going more by brail now than sight, but he had to move fast, because it wouldn't last long.

He swiped a vial out of one of his pouches and uncorked it, figuring out where Allen's chest and neck were by touch, where he poured out the liquid contents.

"This is chicken blood. No matter what happens in the next few minutes, _stay down_ ," he ordered, getting out the Apple lookalike bomb from one of Allen's pouches. "As soon as I get the replica into that bastard's hands and it goes off, you can move again, but _not_ a second before that. Understood?"

Allen nodded mutely, fighting the urge to gag and squirm as he felt the blood tickle down his neck. He heard Kanda's mildly confused shout in the distance which made him think about just how this is going to work out for them but not Lavi in particular. Kanda will see the exact same thing as Apollo and that would not quite work in the bookman's favour.

His eyes widened as he stared at Lavi, choking out Kanda's name and hoping that the man would understand what he meant.

Lavi stepped back out as the smoke was clearing, Allen still laying on the ground with blood now coating the front of him. He held the Apple in one hand, loosely gripping his spear in the other, since that was all he could manage with how it panged from his and Allen's earlier clashing weapons.

He made straight towards Apollo, but, not unexpectedly, Kanda had no intentions of letting him get past. Even less so after he sighted Allen's condition and roared in outrage, turning his sights from Apollo to the redhead instead.

Lavi was lament to say he was a little less prepared for the swordsman than originally planned, with his arm messed up, and he danced away to the side of Kanda's swing after his weapon was parried off to the side to leave him open.

He spared a glance towards Apollo, briefly calculating, and chucked the artifact towards the man. He heard Kanda's angry curse, but the swordsman didn't waver in his attack to go after it.

That one second of distraction was all that was needed. Lavi saw the movement in his peripheral vision and quickly turned back to his fight, but he was a second slower and that was all it took as he inhaled sharply in reflexive preparation. The pain wasn't the first to hit, it was more like a punch of cold steel to - _through_ \- him, a startling contrast to the heat of his body.

With his free hand he gripped Kanda's shoulder tightly to steady himself and keep the man from immediately pulling away as his nerves started to register the cut of the blade, grimacing. Even with only just now beginning to feel the pain, it was enough to steal his breath.

"There's… no doubt, Yuu… you're definitely… not someone to be messed with… with those sword skills of yours," he wheezed. Kanda breathed out, and twisted the sword ever so slightly, watching in morbid satisfaction as Lavi´s face twisted in pain. The redhead grunted as he felt the weapon shift in the wound to his abdomen, nearly causing him to double over while a dark spot of crimson started to spread through the fabric of his shirt. "But… I can't help but wonder… how good your aim with a gun is…"

The redhead flashed a pained smile at the swordsman as he heard Apollo bark out surprise and dismay when the Apple refused to light up and work for him.

"As I re-… -call… you're still owed p-payback… for that nasty explosion back… at the warehouse…"

"What is this?!" Apollo cried out, clawing at the artifact. "This is not the-" His words were drowned out by the sound of gunshot that was immediately followed by an explosion, leaving the fake Templar priest lying on the ground veiled by black smoke.

"You-!" Kanda didn't have the chance to finish his sentence as he heard Allen call his and the rabbit's names, saw him scramble to his feet and jog towards them, immediately catching Lavi as the man's knees buckled. The swordsman stared at his bloodied face and clothes, stunned into speechlessness. "What...?"

"Oh my God! Lavi! Are you alright? Help me with him!" Allen scolded when Kanda didn't move. They eased the redhead on the ground and on his side, careful enough not to move the sword.

The slight, pained chuckle Lavi gave died into a grimace, not refusing Allen's care to lower him down. "Yeah... 'm fine, it's not as bad as it could be," he tried to reassure. He smirked slightly at the baffled face Kanda was giving him, offering up hoarsely, "It's jus' chicken blood on 'im, Yuu. Not that there's a way to tell, at a distance..."

"Oh my," Allen sighed in panic, his hands hovering over Kanda's sword, "I-I... am really pleasantly surprised that you are still in one piece - Kanda, just why would you! How do we treat this now?!"

"Just don't-... hell, I don't know!" the swordsman argued, throwing his arms in the air. His voice was also slightly on the edge, but he did everything to stay as calm as possible. "I don't treat the people I stab!"

"You are not helpful at all!"

"The... large bag... on my belt," Lavi wheezed, skipping past his usual joking, saving his energy for telling them what they needed to do. "There're rags. If you wrap 'em 'round the blade... and put pressure on the wound when you draw it out... it should stem... some of the bleeding. Normally I'd advise against removing it 'til there's a doctor, but..." He paused, gaze sliding to Kanda. "Yuu might need his sword... for the next few minutes, t' finally end that bastard."

"Finish wh-" and just as Allen was about to voice the question, Lavi shoved him to the side just in time as a dagger flew by. The whitehead grabbed his sword and was back on his feet, facing the staggering and really pissed off Templar with a frown on his face.

"I'll be right there," Kanda said as he hastily rummaged through Lavi's bag and started wrapping the blade.

"You'll regret this!" Apollo yelled as he unsheathed his own sword.

"Just don't let him get away again," Lavi told the other man with as much mirth as he could muster, given the circumstance, clenching his teeth against the pain when Kanda started to pull the blade out. " 'gonna be sorely pissed if you do."

"Worry about staying alive, I will deal with this," Allen said as he grabbed his sword, dragging it menacingly behind him as he stalked towards the traitor, "time to pay for your crimes."

Kanda was rooted on the spot by Lavi, and it was probably the first time the redhead saw him so... unsure. He looked rather torn between staying and joining Allen's side but after a silent curse under his breath, he went back to treating the wound. "You had it coming," he commented silently.

Lavi huffed slight laughter. "That's harsh, Yuu. Y'know I _could've_ really turned traitor on ya if I wanted."

"Oh, really," Kanda paused and his eyes flickered towards Allen, "and why is that?"

"Because Bookmen only take whatever side benefits them at the time. Y'should already know that much," he tossed, grimacing. "Anyway, you should probably go and help Allen. Wounded or not, Apollo is still dangerous. You might not get another chance like this one. You can worry 'bout me once you're certain he's good and dead."

Kanda smirked as he patted his shoulder. "Good answer, ginger. Don't die!" he said and finally pulled the sword free, sprinting off just in time to see Apollo block Allen's first slash. The ground beneath their feet was freckled with blood and the smell of burnt flesh was hanging in the air like a plague.

They fought only to kill, hacking and slashing to inflict as much damage as possible. They were all tired and wounded, barely keeping up, but how Apollo could still fight like this - with his side charred and bleeding - Kanda had no idea. He was like a demon - fighting almost tirelessly, as if the fire had set his madness free.

But he was not the only demon on the field.

Kanda noticed it the moment Neah's name fell from the templar's mouth - Allen was filled with rage, and that was never a good sign. He fought recklessly then, ignoring defense to maximize offence, taking hits in order to gain a split of a second of advantage.

It was as if the rage made their bodies numb to the pain.

"He whined like a dog before he died!" Apollo taunted, his voice hoarse.

He only saw Allen in the battle and Kanda tried to use that. He edged towards his flank and attacked from there, but the bastard saw him and a second later, Kanda traded a dagger in his thigh for a shallow slash on that madman's side. He fell on his knee, trying to wiggle the blade out as he narrowly dodged Apollo's other blade. Allen was in front of him in a second and pushed the man away, giving Kanda a few seconds to collect himself.

"Cried your name as I skinned his body!" Apollo yelled, laughing maniacally.

Allen was losing his mind with every taunt the bastard spat out. The battle had to end quickly, Kanda thought as he threw the dagger out of reach.

He charged again only to have his attacked parried again. He cursed when he was forced to sidestep and his leg screamed in protest. They needed a distraction. Another one, no matter how little. Allen couldn't keep up anymore, he could see it - his movements were slower and the dusty ground under him was black from dried blood.

Kanda frantically looked around. Their assassins were too busy keeping Apollo's henchmen away in the streets, the graveyard was empty and-

He grinned when he spotted him, struggling to keep himself straight as he held his hand on the wound to his abdomen. He would have laughed if the situation wasn't so dire. _Can't do anything on your own?_ It was painted all over his face.

They both waited for Allen to force Apollo to make an opening - preferably one that would leave the whitehead standing somewhere where he wouldn't be hit if something went wrong. Kanda tried to maneuver the two into the right position.

The fight dragged on for few more minutes. Kanda stumbled to the side after a well-aimed kick from the templar and found himself unable to stand up again. His thigh was cramped and refused to budge. Apollo managed to beat Allen to his knees and in the drunkness of the vision of his victory, he finally turned his back.

"I am going to skin you, too, you little whore!"

"Fuck you!" the whitehead cursed and struggled to get back on his feet. Apollo didn't give him the chance.

"Or I can do that t- aargh!" He didn't get to finish the sentence thanks to the dagger-end of Lavi's spear that was now stuck in his burnt shoulder.

Kanda didn't waste any more time and sprung forward with a pained cry, thrusting his slender blade roughly between the bastard's fourth and fifth rib, cruelly twisting it to keep the man in place.

Allen spat on the ground and clumsily got to his feet, almost falling over if it wasn't for his sword. He watched Apollo twitch and gasp for air with morbid satisfaction as he readjusted his grip on his greatsword. He waited for a little bit longer, letting the templar suffer as much as possible before beheading the man with a strangled cry.

He dropped the sword and let out a deep sigh.

Four bodies fell on the ground then. One twitching with post-mortem spasms, and three with relieved, pained laughter.

"About damn time," Lavi wheezed, being the first to melt from laughter into coughing, resisting the acute urge to curl in on himself. His head was swimming from the blood loss, but a glance at the other two with his half-lidded eye told him they weren't much better off, if only in different ways. " 'hate to be the one to ruin the atmosphere, but y'know... one of us is gonna... have to find a doctor..."

Allen managed a choked laugh before turning on his side to inspect the battlefield. He looked for Apollo's head, finding it a few meters to his left, it's eyes blankly staring back at him. He couldn't help but smile. It was finally over.

Lavi was crumpled further away but Allen could not make himself stand up no matter how hard he tried. Kanda was the closest. He was on his back with his arms stretched out, letting out deep relieved breaths. It seemed as if he was murmuring something silently to himself, and Allen could almost swear he heard a meek little "amen" in the end.

He crawled towards him and laid his head on the man's bicep, curling along his body like a cat. "I didn't know you knew how to pray," he teased.

"Shut up, I wasn't praying," Kanda grunted half-heartedly, and Allen could see a small smile trying to overtake the scowl on his face.

The whitehead wanted to continue but a very familiar, and not to mention frightening, scoff interrupted him, making him shudder.

"That took you a while! Though I didn't think you would end it like this."

"You!" Allen growled, attempting to get to his feet, only in vain. "What the hell?!"

"That is not how you greet your favorite and most beloved godfather, brat!"

Allen bristled but Kanda's hand on his shoulder made him stay in place. "You're my only godfather, Cross!"

"Are you alright, Yuu?" Tiedoll interrupted before any further verbal attacks could have been made.

"Oh no!" Kanda groaned, slapping his forehead.

"Let's get you kids to the den now," Cross said as he went past them to see to Lavi, gently kicking Allen's behind. "So sloppy."

The whitehead growled in reply and let himself get inspected by Tiedoll.

"You've made quite a mess," the veteran assassin commented when he kneeled next to Lavi and started to poke around his wound, "but I have to admit - impressive act you have put on there, kid. You had me pointing my gun at your head for a while," he smirked.

Lavi blinked, for a moment wondering if he was seeing what he was seeing or if the blood loss was getting to him that badly. He settled on reality rather than delusion.

" 'guess its a good thing for me you didn't shoot then," he huffed, cracking the faintest smirk. "Because my plan only really accounted for Yuu over there possibly tryin' to kill me."

"He got you good," Cross shook his head theatrically, lighting a cigarette as he sat down and squinted at the cut, "but not good enough. One might think he didn't really want to kill you, Junior," he added, wiping the blood off the bookman's side.

"I always knew Yuu had a soft side somewhere past all that tough exterior," Lavi managed to tease with a hoarse laugh, just loud enough to be absolutely sure Kanda could hear it and casting a glance to the side at the black-haired man. "And I ain't no _Junior_ anymore, _old man_."

Cross barked a short laugh before sighing, "ah, _Junior_ , I wouldn't call it a soft side. I would say he wanted to make you suffer before you bleed to death," he said before forcing a horribly fake laugh.

Well, he certainly knew how to cheer a man up.

"You're gonna live, right? He wouldn't be happy if you kicked the bucket now," the tall redhead said before shouting to someone behind him to get something to carry the injured. "Oh, and I met your old man," he said, smirking, "he is very displeased with you."

Well wasn't _that_ just wonderful news?

Cross walked off then, shouting at his charge how stupid and careless he was, but everyone could hear the pleased and relieved tone that was hiding underneath the harsh scolding.

The last thing Lavi remembered were Cross´ disgusted noises - probably because Allen and Kanda decided that it was a perfect time to make out.


	42. Full Circle Goodbye

Lavi wasn't the happiest person alive to be waking up, coming out of the blissful drift of unconsciousness and into the throbbing of the inflamed nerves in his lower torso. At least he could say he was alive though, which was better than the possible alternative. It was still unpleasant.

At the very least, it seemed he had a proper bed beneath him, warm and as comfortable as he could hope for, pain of his wounds not withstanding.

There were a few voices nearby, sounding slightly hushed, but not very far below normal speaking volume. He groaned faintly and cracked his eye open, giving himself a moment for his vision to focus properly.

He noticed Kanda sleeping on the cot next to him, curled on his side with one arm under the pillow and the other buried in his hair that was all but a messy bird nest.

"You did good," he heard a deep voice say and if it wasn't for the pain that lanced across his body, Lavi would have though himself still dreaming. It was Cross, but it might as well been his clone because the soft tone just couldn't have been real.

"I shouldn't have done that," Allen answered in a strangled tone, "he was already dead, there was no need for me to do that."

The man was sitting on the edge of the whitehead's cot and Lavi was quite surprised that he didn't see nor smell any alcohol or cigars. Was he still dreaming? Kanda squirmed a bit, his hand tightening in his hair, but relaxed right afterwards. Lavi saw Cross look over at the man and then back at Allen again.

"He got what he deserved," Cross said with a heavy sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked as if he wanted to say something but decided against it. A sigh again and then he reached to ruffle Allen's white hair. "Neah would have been proud."

A sob echoed in the room, followed by the beansprout's sad, quivering "thanks!"

Lavi faintly smiled to himself while he remained unnoticed, having to resist voicing some kind of joke or playful jab, instead deciding to let Allen and Cross have their moment for a little while longer before finally speaking up.

" 'guess this means we really did manage to finish it after all," he chuckled. "An' without any of us kicking the bucket."

"Lavi!" Allen gasped, sitting up. "You're alright!"

"Of course he's alright," Cross interjected snappily, the softness of his voice long gone without a trace. He grumbled something under his breath and stalked out of the room before Allen could stop him.

"How are you feeling?" the whitehead asked.

"Like shit, I hope," Kanda grunted, turning onto his back. "If not I can fix it."

"Still as harsh as ever, Yuu," Lavi chuckled, this directed at Kanda. "If it helps ya sleep better, yeah, I feel like shit. Still alive an' kickin' though. Takes more than that to kill this rabbit." He smiled over at Allen, looking tired and still a bit pale, but coherent nonetheless. "How about you?"

"Never been better!" he smiled, but it didn't really reach his puffy red eyes.

"Brat!" Cross yelled from somewhere downstairs. "Someone came to see you!"

Allen frowned and looked at the two other men as if they could offer him an answer.

"I don't like him," the veteran growled and then there was the distinct sound of Cross loading his pistol.

"There's really no need for that kind of violence..." Lavi heard, getting the impression of someone holding up their hands in placation. It didn't take him long to place the voice to an identity. "I'm merely here to collect payment on services rendered. Something you should be quite familiar with, hm?"

"Sounds like your sketchy informant is back, Allen," Lavi informed redundantly.

"Oh, hell no!" Kanda was scrambling off the bed once he connected all the dots but the barrel of Cross' pistol stopped him in the middle of it, forcing him back into bed.

"Stay put," Cross warned silently, squinting at the black haired assassin.

Allen sighed, rolling his eyes. "Be careful with that."

"Don't tell me what to do!" the redhead spat back like a small child and aimed the gun at Demir who strolled into the room with an air of smugness as always. "Who the fuck is this? Aren't these two enough? Are you collecting men or something?" Cross lamented, tapping his foot against the floor.

"Sadly I believe you are mistaken," Demir said, briefly glancing over at Allen with a slight gleam to his eyes as if to emphasis the 'sadly' part. "You see, I was promised a demonstration, of the magical glowy orb... - I believe you call it an Apple or something? - in exchange for the identity of the Templar hunter. I have yet to receive my payment as promised."

Cross squinted at the man, slowly tilting his head as he looked at Allen. "Have you been trading information to shady guys for the apple, my darling godchild?"

"Well, I can explain," Allen started, playing the innocent victim with sad puppy eyes, "we... were kind of desperate, and Demir here was kind enough to tell us..."

"Oh really," the tall redhead turned to Demir, "is that true?"

"That would be correct," Demir confirmed, smiling lazily. "Your protégé and his colleagues were quite in over their head for a time, and information has a price."

Allen cleared his throat, staring at the man with a smile on his face that clearly said "say more, I´m going to kill you."

"You don´t say," Cross hummed, moving his pistol towards his charge.

"Listen," the whitehead said, raising his hands in defense, "I had only little choice and people were dying. I did what I have to!"

"I would certainly say his claims of desperation to be true, when he was even willing to present himself as a woman of the brothels," Demir said, chuckling. "Quite an attractive little flower even amongst true women, too."

Allen tried to stop the man from finishing the sentence but with no success. He could have sworn the temperature of the room dropped with every word Demir let out of his mouth, and the look Cross was giving the man was more than promising a long painful death.

"What he meant was-" the whitehead tried to amend but his godfather immediately silenced him with a raised finger. His eyes didn´t move from Demir.

"I am going to talk to you later," Cross said and Allen knew that he would be on the receiving end of many, many debts very soon and shut his mouth. He broke one of the two promises he gave to him and that was a thing his mentor didn't take lightly.

"You did what?!" Kanda hissed across the room, making Allen slowly cover his head with the blanket.

Lavi couldn't help but sweatdrop. This whole situation was going downhill fast, and the fact that Kanda was apparently left out of the loop genuinely surprised him.

"Y'never told 'im about that?" Lavi asked in a whisper, trying to make it a point to stay off of Cross' radar in the meantime.

"It didn't... quite come up until now," Allen whispered back harshly, giving Lavi the this-is-not-the-time look.

To everyone's surprise, Cross did take out the Apple and held it out in front of him with a cruel smile. "You want this, right?" he asked, making the Apple glow ever so slightly.

"I very much would," Demir said, though with a shiftiness of knowing he was treading thin ice. "And then I will be on my way, never to bother you again."

Faking a cough to catch Cross's attention didn't work, so Allen spoke up, "I'm sure we all regret certain things, and we all know that some things are, indeed, inevitable, so why not solve this in p- Cross, there is no need for this!" he cried when soft golden lines started to dance around the room, freezing Demir mid-way in reaching for it.

"Why don't you try it out then?" the older assassin offered, totally ignoring his protesting protegé.

Demir tried to move but found that he couldn't, a bit of his usual composure slipping from his face. "Truly, there is no need for this...?" he began, his body moving of its own - or rather, of Cross's volition, away and towards the wall.

"Oh, I am sure there is," the assassin purred, making the man stand there, ready for execution.

"Indeed," Kanda echoed from his cot, with a dark scowl. "I warned him to stay away after I found him sneaking around his room at night."

"Kanda!" Allen shouted angrily, "you're not helping!"

"I don't really want to, either."

"Sneaking into my godchild's room at night, are you?" Cross repeated, resting the gun's barrel against the back of Demir's head. "Any last words?"

Demir was silent for a long time, biting his lip with calculation in his eyes, and then finally resignation. "What words do the dead need?" he finally answered, tone tremulous but still somewhat defiant.

"Good answer," Cross grinned and just as he was about to pull the trigger, Tiedoll marched in, interrupting.

"Now I believe we do not need redecorating, Marian," he scolded, taking the Apple away from him, "you'll traumatize the children."

Allen thanked all the gods he didn't really believe in for Kanda's father. "Yes! Exactly!" He felt the Apple's power to ebb away slowly which he used the distraction to spring from the bed and throw himself at the tall redhead to snatch his gun away. Cross caught him easily around the middle and held him under his arm, effectively preventing him from either reaching the gun or running away.

"We're going to talk, little brat!"

Demir heaved an audible sigh, momentarily closing his eyes, before his composure was back in place, albeit thinly.

"Well, I suppose I got my demonstration, didn't I?" he mused, taking a few steps to the doorway of the room, ready to make a hasty retreat. "Consider our deal finished and behind us." And just like that, he turned and vanished out of the den once more.

"Why do you have to ruin everything?" Kanda grumbled under his breath as he laid back down, glaring daggers at Tiedoll.

"I'm pretty sure that's all just a matter of perspective, Yuu," Lavi told the Japanese man. "But man, that Cross... scary as ever."

The veteran glanced behind him momentarily, raising his brow.

"Can you put me down now?" Allen piped in innocently, hoping that the _conversation_ Cross wanted to have won't happen. His prayers were not heard.

"We'll be right back," Cross grunted, walking out of the room with Allen still under his arm.

Kanda looked at Lavi with a silent question as Tiedoll started re-wrapping his leg.

"It is going to take a while," the old man said, scratching the back of his head when the sound of slamming door echoed from down the hallway.

The shouting started a while later. Cross' yelling about how Allen broke the only two rules he made was followed by Allen's aggressive apologizing and then the sounds of something breaking, after which Tiedoll made a hasty excuse and ran to calm them down before they would manage to kill each other.

Cross returned Allen to the room a moment later, dumping him unceremoniously on the bed without a comment before storming off, into the nearest tavern no doubt.

"So," Kanda started, propping himself on his elbows so he could see the whitehead, "cross-dressing," he grumbled, making Allen groan and hide under his covers again.

Lavi couldn't help but laugh, a little too amused that this was apparently news to Kanda.

"Oh yeah, y'should see it Yuu. He makes for a pretty cute-lookin' girl~" he teased, even knowing it might be unwise considering Kanda's possessiveness and Allen's likeliness to get flustered about it.

The scabbard of Kanda's sword hit Lavi across his gut almost immediately after he finished the sentence, making him curl into himself with a pained cry.

"I hear one more word," the swordsman growled, holding his sheathed sword pointed at the redhead in what would have been a threatening manner had his arm not trembled so much. He held his injured leg gingerly, trying to ignore his father's attempts to calm him down.

Allen yelled in outrage from the bed, joining Tiedoll's scolding once he saw the pathetic state the bookman was in.

"Yuu, that hurt!" Lavi gasped, reeling, and with far too much breathless dramatization for any person slipping back toward unconsciousness - then again, this was Lavi they were talking about - continued, "It's all goin' dark... Allen, buddy, I think this is the end for me..."

"Lavi? Lavi! Kanda why would you do that!" The whitehead sprang out of his bed to tend to the bookman.

Kanda's scowl deepened and he took another swing. "He's faking and you know it! Get away from him!"

"How can you say it after what you've done to him! He's in pain!" Allen yelled back, trying to catch the scabbard before it hit its mark.

"And here I always thought I'd die with a smile on my face. Tell my books... I love them..." Lavi rasped with an overplayed whimper just before conking out.

"Lavi!" Allen cried, trying to shake the bookman back to life, "Kanda what have you done?!"

* * *

And so luckily Lavi managed to survive the (second) assault on his persons via Kanda's sword, with no short amount of vigorous shaking to raise him from the dead.

With Apollo slain, everyone was breathing easier, the atmosphere in the den lighter than ever.

Allen was weary but doing better, looking as if a great weight had finally been pulled from his shoulders and his stress was melting away little by little.

Kanda was still grumpy, but a little less so, no longer constantly ready to rattle the very foundation of the building with his angry shouting. It was a little bit of an improvement anyway.

That wasn't to say he didn't try raking Lavi over the coals about why he'd kept them all in the dark about his grand master plan to get the drop on Apollo though.

The Templar had said before that Lavi had informed them of the plan he had shared with them, but that wasn't wholly true. He'd only told Apollo _enough_ to win his confidence, and that the Apple was part of their trap. He had never actually told Apollo of the replica, so the man had never expected it to be a fake, much less a bomb. Leaving the others out-of-the-know was to ensure their reactions were as pure as could be when he `betrayed` them, and his stunt with the chicken blood and pretending to mortally wound Allen had been to assure Apollo would accept the fake Apple from him without second thought to whose side he was on. Apollo had already proven himself clever. If anything was even _slightly_ off, he might have suspected, and Lavi had known he wouldn't get a second chance to fool the Templar into thinking he'd traded sides.

He'd known all along that his plan meant Kanda might try and kill him, but the Japanese assassin was someone who wouldn't even hesitate to kill a kid if he thought they'd betrayed him, so he couldn't have chanced the man holding back and leading to Apollo seeing through the guise that way either. It was to his benefit in that regard that Kanda's distrust was so easy to inspire.

Allen was a lot more pissed about that than Kanda, and made that fact very well-known with the cruzing he delivered. As for Kanda, it was hard to discern if he was annoyed the redhead had fooled them all so easily or impressed with the pure audacity of his risky plan. Maybe a little of both.

Regardless, things quieted down. The assassins were free to break peace with and raid the Byzantines whenever they felt like it again, not to mention not have to look over their shoulders quite so much. Teidol went on to mutter something about possibly being able to retire at last like he'd planned. Cross pretty much did what Cross was infamously known for doing; whoring, drinking, and dumping debts left and right on Allen for the white-haired man to clean up after him.

As for Allen and Kanda, they finally had time to spend together doing things other than planning for the worst to come.

For his part, Lavi interacted as much as the situation required, but otherwise he tried to remain at a safe distance, especially where Allen was concerned. He was silently dreading another appearance from his mentor come to scold him after Cross had told him the geezer was very unhappy with him, but the old man never showed. Then again, Cross had never actually said how long ago he'd seen Bookman.

In the late part of night, most candles snuffed out to pitch the rooms of the den into darkness, his single eye flickered open and he was out of bed, silently walking the dark halls. It was one of those hours that no one else was awake, and if they were, they were probably out somewhere else. Some time solidly between twilight and the dawn.

It had been just around two weeks since they finally rid themselves of the threat of Apollo. Lavi's wounds were healing, and the inflammation had gone down significantly, but it still ached whenever he moved around. Likely it would still take another week or two before it sealed up completely.

He stopped when he finally came to Kanda's room, lightly pushing the door open. He could only barely make out the silhouetted forms of both men curled up in a tangle of limbs and blankets, soundly asleep and dead to the world. Rest they certainly earned after all that had happened.

For a while he simply stood against the door frame, listening to them snore softly and silently thanking the universe at large that things had turned out the way they had in the end, rather than in further tragedy. Either one of them he would consider his friends by now were such sentiments allowed to him, but he tried to keep even the word from his mind. Even having survived everything they had, these were people he would likely never see again, happy ending or no. Certainly he wouldn't be fool enough to tempt the wrath of the Clan with seeing Allen ever again, having already risked far too much having done so once already.

He resisted the urge to sigh, for fear it might wake even one of them, and tiptoed forward carefully, finding the Apple tucked somewhere behind one of the pillows. A murmur made him freeze, but it was nothing more than dreamy nonsense spoken from the depths of sleep. He didn't delay retreating from the room afterwards, mindful not to make a sound.

He retrieved his things that he had with him at the den - his belt-bags, spear, and boots - and tip-toed from the den without alerting a soul. The Apple he kept safely hidden in the large bag on his belt.

The streets outside were dark and lifeless, save for an owl infrequently chattering from somewhere unseen. The lack of sound and movement was almost disquieting, a peaceful juxtaposition to the hidden chaos that had plagued them all for months.

He found the place where he had been staying before long, unlocking the small house and stepping inside, less mindful now of making noise. He took only a short while to relax for one last time, breathing in the stale air that had gathered during his absence the last couple of weeks, then mustered up the will to get started.

He folded away the clothes he had gained from various countries, cleared the shelf of books belonging to him, tucked away ink wells and decorative knick-knacks, and everything else that hadn't originally been bought along with the single-roomed house. He paused in his cleaning, slightly short of breath as the wound to his gut panged from his movements, taking a short break until the pain ebbed away. He hated having to pace himself because of his injuries, but it couldn't be helped.

When he was finally finished, the sun was already rising, bringing the morning and people into the streets with the new day. No time like the present to disappear, and for the identity known as 'Lavi' to cease his existence.

He grasped the strap of his bag, pulling it towards his shoulder, but his arm protested with a sharp jolt that caused him to hiss. The limb was still bothering him somewhat from when he and Allen had fought, spear-to-broadsword. For a moment he toyed with the idea that it was Allen himself, indirectly protesting his leaving.

He smiled at his own foolishness of the thought, sighing aloud, and switched arms, hauling the bag onto his back and eyeing the empty space in sad resignation. The only thing left now was one of two keys to the place, the other still somewhere in Allen's possession.

He slipped a piece of folded paper out of his pocket, a note, and went to set it down where it would be easy to find next to the key, but hesitated. It was a familiar scene to him, something he had done once before, and part of him silently voiced that he _knew_ better than this.

There were to be _no_ traces.

None.

Bookmen didn't leave evidence of where they'd been, not even this much. As far as the world at large was concerned, Bookman was a single entity with no attachments to the events he observed. A faceless figure who could be anyone, at any time, while also being no one.

To leave even a trace of his existence was to defy that. _He_ had chosen to become a Bookman, knowing the full implications of what it would mean. He couldn't just go back on it now. He had chosen his path in life, and he was dedicated to that.

Sighing under his breath, he crumpled the note into a wad in his palm, shoving it back into his bag, and turned for the door. Closing it up behind him, he immediately winced again at his injuries, forcing himself to breathe steadily until the sting passed.

Already the streets were busy, and before long they would be completely packed full of people. Soon enough, the city would be short one more body, the redhead turning his sights for the docks. With luck, he would find a ship ready to leave port before the afternoon, willing to take a traveler for an exchange of coin, long before anyone noticed him, or rather, a lack of his presence.

* * *

Allen woke up when the morning rays of sun peaked through the shutters. He stretched lazily, burrowing his face deeper into the pillow and shuffling closer to Kanda who was still in the realm of dreams. There was no hurry. None. At. All.

He begun to love the lazy morning where he and Kanda would slowly wake up, have breakfast and then do whatever they wanted because it was finally over. They had deserved their rest - even if it was for a short time, because surely, other problems would arise sooner or later. Allen preferred the later, but he still didn't bring himself to care. Not yet. Not when everything was peaceful (as peaceful as an assassin's life can get anyway) and he got to enjoy a lazy morning with an occasional tumble in the sheets whenever he pleased. Kanda never objected.

He surely would not object now, Allen thought as he moved on top of the man, still too lazy to open his eyes properly and greet the morning. He blindly kissed his way from Kanda's jaw to his mouth, smiling to himself as he felt the man stir beneath him. Not even the morning breath could dissuade him now.

Kanda sighed contently, not fully awake but awake enough to sense what his bedpartner was trying to do. He slowly dragged his fingers across Allen's back as he wiggeld on the bed and returned the kiss, still blindly, though, since he was, too, too lazy to open his eyes just yet.

"Morning," Allen whispered as he stretched like a cat. He smiled broadly as he felt Kanda react to his body and giggled when the man moved his hands to his sides, because, yes. Yes, this was exactly what he wanted and what he deserved for going through all the troubble of watching over the Apple and- the Apple...

He groped around with his hand, searching for the Apple that was supposed to be under the pillow.

Allen froze.

Kanda paused in his lazy advances when he felt his lover's body suddenly grow rigid and opened one eye to look at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, seeing the whitehead staring into distance with clear horror and panic written all over his face. That sobered him up instantily, banishing all sleepiness out of his mind. He repeated his question, grabbing Allen's shoulder which seemed to work as he finally moved his eyes to look at him.

"The Apple," he said with a strained voice before bolting out of the bed, hastily dressing himself.

Kanda stared at him, completely flabbergasted before he looked under the pillow and found nothing. No Apple. Before he could react, Allen was already racing down the stairs.

The swordsman cursed under his breath and got out of the bed.

* * *

He was not there.

He was not in the den and he was not in his house. Nobody saw him, nobody heard him, but Allen knew exactly where he was headed to. Or at least, he hoped so.

He ran across the city, narrowly dodging the few people that roamed the morning streets, muttering hasty apologies as he passed.

The harbor. That's where Lavi was.

Allen ran and ran, as fast as he could, first through the streets and then across the roofs.

 _He is going to leave_ , a voice in his mind whispered, _just like he did before_. No, he was not going to let him go like that. Not this time.

He tripped on nothing and screamed in frustration as he barely caught himself before falling down but he kept running and jumping, racing to the harbor before the ship set sail. He could see the sea already, but he didn't allow himself to relax just yet.

Allen looked around the harbor frantically, searching for the flaming red hair. Was he in the right place? Had Lavi left with the caravan instead? Suddenly he saw it. The familiar mop of red hair, slowly exiting the alley on his left. He jumped down from the chimney and then on the ground, right behind the bookman.

Lavi stiffened then, pausing mid-step and swiveling slightly to look behind him. Clearly he hadn't anticipated getting caught, or at least not so soon, but he tried not to look too guilty, playing it off.

"Oh, hey Alle-!" His words trailed into a yelp as he was yanked away from the main street, hopping one leg for a moment to keep his balance, and from face-planting onto the floor of the alley as Allen just about threw him into it. Clearly, Allen wasn't buying it. "Y-y'seem angry..." he managed to squeak unhelpfully.

"I'm not angry," Allen growled, advancing onto the bookman until their noses almost touched. "I'm livid," he said, stabbing his finger into Lavi's chest to emphasize his statement. "Where's the Apple?!"

He held his hands up in a placating manner, wearing a thin, sheepish smile. "And here I thought you came all this way just for me," he couldn't help but joke, but the look Allen gave him clearly said how much time he had left to answer before he blew his top completely. "It's dangerous, 'sprout. You of all people should know that. It'd be best for everyone here if it disappeared."

Allen took a deep, calming breath - Lavi could tell it was not working - and spoke up through clenched teeth.

"It is not for you to take! It was given to me and I shall keep it until I die! I will not let you take it. You cannot take it with you, Neah-" he closed his mouth with an audible click, his fist tightening on Lavi's shirt.

Lavi sobered, noticing the shift in Allen's demeanor at his cut short words. "What of this Neah person?" He had heard plenty, but most of it in regards to what had happened to the person because of Apollo, not who he actually was to Allen.

"He was," Allen hesitated, his eyes darting to the ground, "he was the keeper of the Apple before me. He was like an older brother to me." he added quietly, his rage almost gone. "Apollo had somehow managed to make him appear as a traitor and brotherhood had hunted him ever since. He gave the Apple to me shortly before that bastard caught him and tortured him to death." He paused, looking up at Lavi again. " I never got the chance to say goodbye." His frown disappeared and the anger subsided, leaving only regret and sadness behind. "Nobody ever gives me the chance."

Lavi could hear the clear accusation in his tone. He thought of what he should say.

If he said how he felt and spilled what had happened when they were younger, how he had wanted to tell Allen they were leaving and chickened out, he would be going against his bookman ties that said he wasn't allowed to care.

And if he stayed true to his bookman rules and remained aloof, disregarding everything he felt and all he and Allen had been through, he would hurt Allen.

As it was, he was silent for a long while, weighing each one in his mind, and the one he was sure Allen didn't want to hear from him won out, gaze sliding elsewhere.

"Its nothing personal."

"Don't," Allen sighed, almost pleading. There was weariness in his voice, too, one that Lavi knew very well. "Don't leave like back then again. Not when everything is..." what? Fine? It was for Allen and Kanda. But not for Lavi, surely. "Just stop this hypocrisy! I've had enough of this foul mask." He took another breath and straightened his back. "And give me that damn orb!" Allen finished sulkily, stretching his hand out with his palm up.

Lavi didn't allow his expression to waver, impassive and cold, without even dawning a fake smile. After a moment of hesitation, he reached back and took the Apple out of one of the bags at his belt, setting it in Allen's palm. Even so, he didn't change expression.

"I know that you want to believe that its a mask-" Was it? He could never tell anymore. His whole life was nothing but dawning one mask after another, but maybe he'd grown a little more attached to the one known by 'Lavi'. He couldn't stand that look that Allen was giving him, the desperation to find that part of him that they both knew existed, and that the bookman knew _shouldn't_. "-but you'll only continue to hurt yourself thinking that. No matter how hard you search, you're not going to find answers, and any that you do, you won't like. All I can tell you is you're wasting your time. Whatever appealing side you thought I had was a lie; a persona I falsified to make my job easier. I don't feel anything, not for anything or anyone, not even you. Trivial attachments like friends or lovers mean nothing to a bookman."

"You know, the more times I hear it, the less believable it becomes," the whitehead said, his frown slowly returning. "Why are you being so goddamn stubborn?! Even Kanda has less issues than you!" The anger was back, too, and it was evident that Allen was running out of words to say. "Was I really just a meaningless toy to you?" he asked bitterly, shaking his head. "I thought... that since it is unlikely that we cross paths again... never mind." Allen took a step back, his face resigned.

Painful silence followed, and Lavi had to fight hard not to wince. A toy...? He could never think of Allen as just a-

He closed his eye, breathing forced steady. No. He would never think of Allen as something that meaningless, but to say it...

He turned away, towards the end of the alleyway where he'd tried to exit earlier just before Allen jumped down. Somehow he felt Allen do the same, only to go the opposite way, radiating hurt and sorrow from his very being, and it was suddenly a little too much for Lavi, his tongue slipping.

"If its any consolation… I'm glad you met someone like Yuu that can give you everything you deserve, better 'an someone like me ever could," Lavi rasped silently before beginning to walk.

He wasn't sure what he hoped to gain by saying it - maybe just to voice that his refusal to admit he cared was in no way tied to thinking less of Allen's worth, and what Lavi saw as his own lack thereof - or if he hoped to gain anything at all by it. It was simply the splash that made it over the dam of everything he gaurdedly withheld, despite his efforts to keep it all contained for the sake of his Clan role.

He wasn't even sure Allen heard him, words spoken so softly it strained his own ears to hear it, so what did it matter?

His path was chosen a long time ago, and Allen was only a detour he knew better than to wish he'd found sooner. And in his absence, Allen had already found Kanda to fill the void he had left in his first disappearance.

He had no doubts at all that he had loved Allen, but sometimes loving was letting go. Whatever had passed between them was over and gone, and as far as he saw it, that was for the best. It hurt, but it would hurt even more to keep pretending they might have had a chance at something deeper.

"You are an idiot," came an aggravated answer and he felt a hand tug at his own, turning him around only to peer into Allen's half-relieved, half-amused face. "This is turning out to be just like one of those horribly romantic stories you once read to me," he said, not letting Lavi talk himself out of it this time. "Thank you, for not betraying me, you bastard." Allen then quickly planted a chaste kiss and then bowing his head, a soft smile playing on his lips. "Thank you for coming to see me one last time, Bookman."

The redhead blinked surprise as he was tugged back, not having the time or forethought to wipe away the slight tears that had started forming once his back was turned, and stiffened with a dumbstruck look when Allen captured his lips briefly.

He was at a loss of words for several moments, before huffing soft laughter and letting his head fall to rest on top of Allen's, buried against his white locks of hair.

"Who're you calling an idiot, 'sprout? I'm probably one o' the smartest guys you'll ever meet!" he teased hoarsely, smiling despite himself and pulling Allen close to him, holding him tightly and committing his scent to memory.

He was silent like that awhile, not quite ready to let go. Just a little while more, just this once...

"I knew, back then..." he murmured admittance against Allen's hair. "I knew we'd have to leave an' that I wasn't supposed to see you again, an' I wanted to tell you, but I... could never work up the nerve. I was crazy about you, an' that's why I could never work up the courage to take things further back then. I never wanted you t'feel like just a toy or a used, throw-away whore when I was gone..." He paused, his voice becoming sullenly guilt-ridden. " 'guess it doesn't matter though. In the end I couldn't even really spare you that much heartache."

He felt Allen's arms wrap around his back. "Utter, utter idiot Lavi," he could practically feel the shorter man's smile widen, "I am just glad you came to see me, dummy. I was worried something happened to you."

When Allen stepped back again, his face shone with a brilliant, happy smile. "Thank you for everything - I do not regret a single moment spent with you. Be safe, Lavi. If anything happens, you'll know where to find us!"

Lavi smiled back, slipping a finger underneath Allen's chin and tilting it upwards to sneak a last, needy, passionate kiss that clearly managed to catch the shorter man by surprise. He took a good few moments to savor the warmth of shared lips and tongue before straightening up again, tousling Allen's hair affectionately.

"Of course."

He froze at the sound of a roughly clearing throat that most certainly didn't come from Allen and looked past the white haired man at Kanda, quickly retracting his hand and taking a few nervous steps back.

"Oh, h-hey Yuu! Fancy... seein' you here..." He chuckled tensely and thumbed over his shoulder, even as he increased his pace for good measure, in case he needed the head start. "I was... just leavin'... never to be seen again... he's all yours now!"

"It was you!" Kanda said, his voice betraying surprise and slight aggravation. How could he have not connected the dots earlier?! "You ran out on him back then! It was you!"

Allen knew exactly where this was going and blocked the swordsman's path just as he took the first step forward, unmistakably to hunt Lavi down.

"You better run," the whitehead said as he surged to hold Kanda's hand so he couldn't draw his sword, "and you run fast!"

"Already ahead of the both of ya!" Lavi laughed over his shoulder, spinning around and springing away into the crowd.

They both stared after him, their little fight forgotten.

"You think we´re going to see him ever again?" Allen asked, squinting to see the red-hair board the ship.

"I hope not," Kanda sighed next to him and relaxed, putting a hand on his shoulder as if in reassurance. "I'm sure we're at least going to hear from him," he offered with a small shrug.

They both waved when the ship finally moved, although Kanda a little bit reluctantly, and when the ship sailed too far for them to see it, they returned to the den to finish what they couldn't earlier.


	43. Epilogue

The warm day was overcast by heavy clouds that continually dropped a steady drizzle, soaking the land and lightly flooding streams and rivers. Dirt roads were turned to mud in many places, and those who could afford to stay indoors, did.

Even so, it didn't stop activity entirely. People still walked the streets and went about as much of their business as they could. The weather was not unusual, only another of many annual Tsuyu rainy seasons.

What was unusual was a compact, light sorrel animal with tall, stiff ears that trotted through the half-bustling street between merchant townhouses, carrying a rider of auburn-red hair and eyes. The rain trickled over a straw rain cloak and woven hat, which was tilted up slightly to scan the various buildings until finally finding the local, large tea house.

Sliding down off the animal's back just outside the door, they shed the rain cloak and hat just outside, laying it on the back of the strange equine and hurried inside before they could get too wet. Hanging off of one arm, they carried a cylindrical box that looked to be crafted from bamboo.

Where the outside streets were all but empty, the inside of the tea house was packed full of people, locals and travelers alike, everyone from farmers to merchants to samurai and lesser lords, all having staked a claim of some corner and trying not to co-mingle too much.

The place reeked with a mix of wet bodies and clothes, sweat, smoke from both cooking and recreational use, tea, and - most alluring - hot food.

"Ah, Sachiko!" one of the women of the tea house greeted, drawing the newly arrived woman's gaze. "Braving the weather today? Come in!"

She smiled and dipped her head faintly in greeting. "Hello! You sure are busy today."

"Yeah, its the rains," the teahouse woman hummed. "Good for business, as long as you don't mind all the sweaty men." The last part was spoken as barely a whisper, hidden behind a raised hand so as not to have their lips read by customers.

Sachiko laughed softly, extending the box she carried. "Can you have this filled for me? One with cooked rice, another with yakitori, and the last one with goyza?"

"Sure thing," the woman smiled, taking them with a slight bow and retreating to the back room, barking off orders at someone.

Sachiko sighed and leaned against the wall near the door, ignoring a few interested looks from some of the more clearly single or unhappily-partnered men inside, waiting patiently for someone to re-emerge with her ordered food. When they finally did, she accepted the container thankfully, producing coin to pay for it.

"It's for _him_ , isn't it?" The women smiled at how Sachiko stiffened, blushing faintly. "That gaijin with hair like fire."

Sachiko nodded, still blushing and trying to hide it. "H-he's too busy with his work for food, don't'cha know, so I thought I'd get something hot for him."

"Oh?" the woman grinned by that point.

She was joined by another that appeared out of the back, sing-songing, "Sa-chi-ko has a boy-friend~"

"I-it's nothing like that!" Sachiko protested, becoming increasingly more flustered.

"You should be careful with strange men, Sachiko, especially gaijin. You know he could be a dastardly kitsune, come to steal and eat your liver or something," the first woman teased in caution.

"He's nothing of the sort," she defended. "Believe me, he's clever and careful like one, and I would have almost thought so too if I hadn't seen that he doesn't have a tail, don't'cha know!"

"Ohhhh?" both other women burst out. Sachiko flushed further shades of red.

"I-it's nothing like that!" she defended again as she realized how it sounded, her words interrupted mid-way by the impatient braying and honking of the pinkish animal waiting for her outside, drawing a good deal of curious stares from both the teahouse women and many of its customer occupants.

"What a strange sound... I've never heard a horse make a noise like that before."

"Kind of an ugly looking horse too," the other added.

"Oh, its not a horse at all," Sachiko told them, likewise staring back at it. "He told me they're called _denchu_."

"Denchu, huh?" the second teahouse girl mused, looking confused.

"Some sort of animal from far, far west, where there are oceans of sand for hundreds of miles. They're kind of like horses, but slower and smaller, I guess. But they can carry a lot for their size."

"Seas of sand, huh? I can't even imagine such a thing."

"Neither can I," Sachiko admitted. "Anyway, thank you for the food! I should probably be getting back, before it gets cold."

"You take care of yourself out there," the women offered in parting. "The road isn't very safe these days. When it isn't the warlords and their samurai, its bandits." She stopped a moment and looked up and around, before leaning closer and whispering less discreetly than she probably thought. "They even say that there's a demon in Nihon these days, cloaked in white and drawn to the scent of blood and battle! A deadly creature that looks like a man but fights like a devil."

"I'll be fine," Sachiko smiled, stepping just outside and quickly lacing on the rain cloak and hat once more, climbing onto the sturdy little animal's back. "I know these roads much better than any bandit or demon ever did." She nodded appreciation, turning and nudging the animal into a trot. "Thank you for the food!"

"Good luck with your _m~a~n~_ , Sachiko!" they teased back in parting.

"It isn't like that, don't'cha know!" she screeched in final return before finally growing too far away, causing the two women to burst into a fit of giggles.

Shaking her head fondly, she made her way back to the house, gently urging the animal to walk faster. It is not as if she was afraid... or maybe she was. Just a little. She had heard several men speak about the demon man in hushed voices - as if they were afraid that he'd come to hunt them if they say his name too loudly. Even the lords seem to be disturbed by the rumors - they walk the streets less commonly and with more guards around.

She glanced around nervously, kicking herself for it a second later. Surely he has better things to do than to waylay lone, traveling women. She gripped the box with the food tightly and spurred the animal to walk faster.

Up the hill and tucked away in the trees was a moderately sized house, appearing to probably be the villa of a samurai or more wealthy trader of some sort. It was at the gate door that Sachiko slid down from the back of the denchu, grasping its reins and leading it in as she pushed the doors open.

The rain had not let up in the least. The path was darkened by water and plant life dripped rivulets of moisture. She tied the animal under the cover of a thicker Japanese Pine near the building and gave it an appreciative pat, then went up to the porch edging the entire building, shedding her geki sandles, and grass raincoat to hang.

The sound of rain was slightly muffled as she entered the building, walking a hall of paper-screen doors until coming to a room faintly lit by the flicker of candles.

"Bookman-donno?" she called experimentally as she entered. She smiled softly at the sight of the older redhead stretched across the floor, head half-buried in his arm with scrolls and books scattered everywhere, one hand poised as if to write. Sadly it appeared he'd probably nodded off in the middle of doing just that, leaving a jagged line of black ink like a lightning bolt down the paper.

She had to bite her lip to stifle a giggle and crouched down next to him, shaking his shoulder lightly.

"Bookman-donno..." She gave him a moment to rouse, blinking sleep from his eyes and a string of drool clinging to the edge of his lips that she couldn't quite decide if it was cute or unattractive. "I brought hot food from the tea house."

He smiled drowsily. "Aw, y'shouldn't have, Chomesuke-chan," he hummed, yawning as he sat up and stretched the stiffness from his shoulders. He shook out his red hair, significantly shorter now, but he had finally tired of the big mane of red and slightly given up trying to tame the scruff on his jawline.

"Oh, it was no trouble," she assured quickly, kneeling and trying not too look too flirty as she opened up the containers of food and dished it up, handing him some. Before long, they were both enjoying the food.

"So, any news from town you've heard?"

She paused to choke down a mouthful of rice she was already working on chewing. "Not much. People are still talking too much about that last battle to mention much else. There were some people though… talking about the Môri Clan."

"Oh?"

"There was a rumor in town that their lord is gathering allies to march on Arita castle to confront Takeda Motoshige and his forces. From the sound of it, Takeda is going to have far greater numbers on his side, at least three times as many."

"Makes sense," the redhead hummed around a bit of goyza. "I suspect the Watanabe Clan will probably be there. Maybe the Fukuhara too."

"You think?" Sachiko wondered.

The redhead bore an idle smile and impassable expression, but a sound caused him to pause, glancing upward toward the ceiling, like a dog on sudden alert. After a moment, he heard another, and set his bowl aside, reaching for the spear sitting behind him.

"You were followed."

"What? But I was watching my surroundings the whole way!" she protested, falling silent when the bookman raised a finger to his lips for silence.

He stood in a fluid, silent motion, padding to one of the screen doors and stepping onto the outside deck, his single eye flicking about the outside garden of the place. When something dropped down from above into the mud, he immediately readied to fend off the intruder if need be, but paused. Something about them was familiar... distantly, but definitely a face he knew. After a few seconds, he remembered.

Someone he saw in Constantinople... someone that worked under Kanda, he thought he recalled.

"Don't worry yourself over it," he told Sachiko, relaxing somewhat, though he couldn't help but wonder exactly why he was being visited by an Assassin now of all times. "Its not someone I would expect you to spot or evade easily." He regarded the robed man properly now, his single eye clearly asking what was wanted of him. "Can I help you?"

"Bookman?" he asked after a pause, taking a step forward, "I- you were in Constatinople, yes?"

"Its one of many places I've been to, yes," he confirmed, eyeing the man carefully, though his own expression was carefully guarded, giving away nothing. "You were one of Yuu's students, weren't you?"

There was a barely concealed, exasperated sigh from the man when the bookman used the name, but thankfully nothing else. Definitely someone from his students.

"Yes, are you looking for my mentor? Or...?" he inquired. He still held himself stiffly, and Bookman could definitely tell that the man was not supposed to be there for whatever reason.

The redhead blinked, showing something akin to surprise.

"I assume your question to mean he's no longer stationed in Turkey," he guessed, not inaccurately.

It had been ten years. He certainly hadn't forgotten about the man, but he had put those times behind him, moved on to fulfill his Clan duties and kept his mind too occupied to think much of Kanda or Allen, only occasionally catching himself reminiscing. He scratched his stomach without thinking much of the action, as if the scar Kanda had left him itched merely at his mention.

"Is he here in Nippon?"

The man nodded curtly, drawing the hood further down to shade his face. "He mentioned that your clan would be here. Do you wish to meet him?"

The bookman was certainly curious how Kanda had known such information, but then, the Bookmen were not the only faction with connections to rare intel. Had Kanda known _he_ would be here, or only that there was _a_ bookman in-country?

He gnawed the inside of his cheek, indecisive but unwilling to show it. He had never planned on returning to see either Allen or Kanda. They were too close to his feeling side to maintain contact, and the Clan knew enough to hold him under scrutiny, even though his mentor had finally passed on and he was officially recognized as an equal-standing Clansmen. Given enough years, he'd have a special place in the higher ranks, due his unique eye and exceptional skill, but only if he continued to play by the rules.

"Where is he now?" he finally asked, deciding that as good an answer as any. He could figure out what to do from there.

"North from here," he pointed, "we're guarding an outpost - he should still be there. I'm on my way there now, shall I send a message?"

North. Chances were not too far north, either, if the assassin had strayed to find him. That made Arita the most likely place they were in, right in the center of where all the rivaling clans of Kyushu's Saga region were converging for war.

And if the Assassins were getting involved, likely that meant that the Templars were probably part of the conflict too. Which meant there was probably a Piece of Eden somewhere in Arita. That gave him incentive, as a Bookman, to investigate.

He finally nodded. "I think I might pay a visit. Do tell him, would you?"

The man nodded again and bowed before sprinting off down the muddy path. It was better to inform the Mentor right away.

The redhead watched him go, then turned back to Sachiko, who'd been standing back and observing silently, wary but confident the bookman had it all handled.

"Chomesuke-chan, would you mind rousing Daisuke?"

She pursed her lips but nodded, leaving the room. He took the time to organize the scattered materials he'd been working on before, some that he left where they were and others he packed for travel. When everything was set, he quickly finished off the food, and soon enough everything was ready for him to head north.

* * *

"Assassins? Are they like samurai?"

"Not quite," the red-haired Bookman replied in the native tongue, not bothering to look back at the black-haired boy that stared inquisitively at his backside. "They're like..." He paused, trying to find the right word. Every culture had one. What were they called here again? "...sort of more like ninjas."

"Oh."

"But this one that I know from far back carries a sword like a samurai. I guess he's sort of more like a mix of the two."

"Hm. That's a little weird."

Bookman laughed. "He's one of a kind, alright. That reminds me... stay off his bad side. Its about forty years too early for you to try your luck against his temper. Trust me."

"Since when do I get on anyone's bad side?" Daisuke grumped. That earned him a look. "As if you're one to lecture, Sensei."

"Its exactly because of that that I know," Bookman smirked, trying not to look too mischievous.

They were growing nearer as they walked to their destination, and already the breeze carried the sounds of warring blades and battle cries, along with the smell of smoke and death.

"Keep close," he warned, receiving a slight nod.

The assassin was already waiting for them, gesturing to them to keep low as he crouched on the hill. Angry and pained shouts filled the air and when Bookman looked around, he saw a small battlefield littered with bodies of men and horses. It seemed that the battle was almost over as the small army of white clad men - who Bookman recognized as the assassins - pushed the remaining forces of their enemy back.

The man standing at the front of the assassin force was viciously slashing every enemy that crossed his way with his hidden blades, agilely twisting and dacing as he pushed the assassins forward toward inevitable victory.

He wore a very familiar white armor and a hood lined with snow-white fur - something that Bookman immediately recognized.

The man staggered slightly, no doubt tired from the battle, and raised his arm above his head with a victorious cry as the assassins disposed of the rest of the enemy soldiers. He turned around and spoke to the men around him, pointing with his hand around in different directions. The men nodded before running off, checking on their fallen comrades, looking for everyone who might still live.

The white-clad man then turned around and begun to inspect the enemy corpses, but whether it was to see if someone lived or for an entire different reason, the Bookman couldn't tell.

"Good to see he's still lively," Bookman chuckled, idly leaning against a tree as they watched the battle reach its conclusion. "And taking charge to boot." Still, something was odd about the shout... hard to pinpoint what it was however when it was drown in further, echoing yells from the rest of the victorious assassins.

He was somewhat disappointed they appeared to have missed a great chunk of the fight, but he didn't dwell on what couldn't be helped. He'd find out the details of the battle afterwards from its survivors.

He was searching the numbers for a black-clad figure with a long black ponytail, but he didn't see Kanda anywhere. That was a little odd.

He turned his head. "Start taking count, Daisuke," he prompted, catching the boy's attention. He tapped a finger next to his eye. "Eyes sharp. Come down and find me when you're done. We'll compare and see how close you get."

"Alright," the boy heaved, gnawing his lip and staring down at the field with a look of calculation, while the redhead pranced down the hill, propping his spear on his shoulder.

He earned a few curious and tense looks, but no one confronted him directly. A few hovered near him though, hidden blades twitching, simply waiting for a reason to use them. They didn't appear sure if he was approaching so casually because he was an ally or because he was simply either that bold or that dumb.

"Quite a show you're runnin' now, eh?" he tossed at the white-clad leader, Bookman wearing a lopsided smile. "I didn't expect to end up meeting you here too. We've got to stop meeting like-"

His words halted then, seeing the man stand and turn, and realized then that he wasn't talking to who he thought he had been.

"Ah," the man spoke in a tone that was lacking the sharp bite he once used pretty much everytime they had talked, "it's you." He wiped his bloodied hands and pulled his hood off, revealing his raven hair. It was as silky as Bookman had remembered but much shorter and streaked with white, tied in a small pony-tail on the base of the man's neck. "I never thought we would meet again, Lavi."

"Yuu..." He blinked a few times, before admitting, "Neither did I. Anyway, its just Bookman," he corrected. "You look..." He trailed off, eyeing the man critically.

Kanda's physical appearance wasn't all that had changed. His demeanor as well. Bookman would have to say he seemed... docile, and for some reason that almost struck him as funny. It would have been a cold day in Hell before he could have said that about the man before, though he supposed perhaps the stress had something to do with it. Or maybe he was just getting on in years too much to keep pissing about with such an attitude.

"...different," he finished lamely.

Kanda scoffed half-heartedly, fondly shaking his head. "Don't we all, Mr. Bookman?" He pointedly looked behind Lavi, gesturing to his apprentice, "is he yours?"

"He is," Bookman nodded as the kid approached, who was eyeing Kanda with sharp appraisal, appearing to size him up. Bookman planted a hand on his head, making him bow. "This is Daisuke."

"G-good to meet you, sir!" Daisuke quickly spat out, quick to squirm out from under his teacher's palm and shake his hair out, going back to staring at Kanda.

"Anyway, don't let us hold you up," Bookman continued, glancing around the battlefield. He had a lot of questions, but he could wait until they were done with the aftermath, dealing with cleaning up the dead and healing the living. "I'm sure that you and your men already have enough to deal with first before you pay us much mind. Anything we can do to help?"

Kanda nodded as he looked around the battlefield. "I still need to find my sword," he said with a sigh and gestured around him, "help with that if you want." He then turned to his men and instructed them in Japanese, telling them to treat the injured as soon as possible because they weren't staying for too long.

"There's a village further to the north," he said to the two bookmen, half-expecting them to leave right away and went back to searching the bodies.

"An' there's a cozy place for me to stay to the south," Bookman shrugged, trailing along a few paces behind, eye scouring the field. "I'm not here just by coincidence, y'know. Intuition tells me you aren't either." His uncovered eye flicked towards the man, studying his face carefully. He didn't think he needed to elaborate that he was talking about the Pieces of Eden."Perhaps I assume too much, though."

"I am fighting battles for the emperor," Kanda said distractedly, going from one body to the next until he finally crouched down to pull his lost sword out of one of his enemies, "and to train the kids." He wiped the sword and sheathed it, finally looking back.

He stared at the Bookman for a second before it finally clicked.

"Oh, right, you mean that." He scoffed. "I'm going to have to disappoint you. But this is a conversation we cannot have in the middle of the battlefield. Go to the village and don't make yourself at home."

The redhead nodded, tilting his head with silent curiosity, but he didn't press for further information now. If Kanda was fighting a war, then he was busy and had to pick his priorities. "I'll see you there once your hands are free," he agreed, giving a small dip of his head before heading off to where the man indicated they would rendezvous.

* * *

Kanda returned not a half an hour after them. As soon as he unmounted the horse, a mob of assassins swarmed him, showering him with requests and reports, which he quickly brushed off, promising to hear them out the next day.

He tied his horse to the fence that stood by the house where he currently resided and walked in, leaving his muddy boots outside.

"Tell the kid to get out of my room," he said as he begun to undo his coat.

"You heard the man, Daisuke," Bookman called, not looking up from where he sat writing, parchment propped against his knee. He said something else but it was neither in Japanese or any other mutually known language. The boy grumbled something as he reappeared, wearing a frown, but otherwise remained silent. The redhead finally looked up. "Why don't you go busy yourself with Aka? She'd probably like the attention."

"Yeah, alright," Daisuke sighed, glancing between the men before stepping outside, leaving them alone to talk freely.

Bookman caught the look Kanda cast him, explaining with a small chuckle, "Aka is the denchu."

"You know, you can just buy horses," Kanda offered as he sat down in front of the fire to warm himself up. The rain still poured from the sky and it looked like it wouldn't stop anytime soon.

"Maybe I will when that pack animal finally croaks," Bookman chuckled in return, having turned his gaze back to his writing.

"So what brings you to Nippon?"

"What else? People are calling this Nippon's Period of Warring States. There's lots of history happening here. Someone needs to keep track of it. It doesn't hurt things either that I was interested in seeing this country anyway, after Bak told me about it way back when. Along the way, I found the kid scavenging battlefields in Kamakura. 'little rough around the edges, but he's sharp and not afraid of getting close to the fighting." He paused, idly scratching his head. "And what about you? This is a long ways off from Constantinople. What business do you and Allen have here?"

Kanda froze for a second and sat back, looking at Lavi for a good while saying nothing.

"Ah damn," he cursed and dragged a hand across his face, smiling sadly, "I wanted to tell you but I couldn't get a hold of any bookmen at the time. You guys are really hard to find." He laughed weakly. "Allen's dead."

Bookman suddenly stopped writing, going still as a statue and some of the casually playful errs falling from his face.

 _Dead...?_ How had he not...

No... no, he had noticed something off. As soon as he'd seen Kanda dressed in such a manner, in Allen's old armor, in _Allen's_ old robes, he'd known. He hadn't been sure what it was, exactly, but he'd had his suspicions, however buried. Of course he hadn't wanted to see it, hadn't wanted to think about it, but...

He realized he'd been holding his breath and that his hand had remained still for several beats too long, trembling around the poised quill. He forced himself to keep writing, but his hand refused to remain steady despite his best efforts, and even waiting until he trusted himself to speak, his words still trembled slightly with it.

"H-how did it happen?"

"Oh, well, it was not as if it was not to be expected, but still..."

* * *

_Three years. Everything was going perfectly, a little bit too much, perhaps, but neither of them minded. They still did carry out an occasional mission or two, still trained new recruits and still argued over the pettiest things but everything was finally as it should have been._

_The sprout was as cheerful as ever, if not more, sending his way-too-bright smiles in every direction and Kanda couldn't bring himself to point it out or anything since it held the den's morale pretty high. A little bit of cheerfulness never hurt anyone. The irony of_ him _thinking that, of all people._

_The first time he became a little bit edgy after a long time was when the smily idiot almost fell off a roof - ´I slipped´ he said and brushed it off as if nothing happened. At first Kanda was tempted to brush it off just the same. But when Allen ´slipped´ down the stairs, he just couldn't._

_They argued the entire week at the time because Allen kept saying he was just a little clumsy and that was all._

_When he collapsed on the nearest mission and didn't get back up, Kanda knew there was nothing to argue about and Allen knew it too. They spent that week in silence, avoiding each other and coping with the inevitable in their own way. His smile was thinner after that, and a little bit forced._

_A month from then, he lost his apetite, and in another month, he spent the time in bed reading books._

_The two following months were for Kanda like a a bad dream he barely remembers. The days blend together and passed like a haze and Kanda couldn't bring himself to count them anymore. Allen tried to provoke some arguments, but they were always only half-hearted and ended up in tense silence and resignation._

_The day Allen asked him to take him outside was the breaking point._

_There was no avoiding the fate anymore, and no matter how angry Kanda was at him for simply giving in, the sprout still smiled at him with his stupid way-too-bright smile and insisted on his request._

_At first, Kanda sat on the highest hill overlooking the city with Allen's head in his lap in silence, but when the younger one asked him to describe what he was seeing, he complied and that was probably the first time he talked so much in his life. He described everything - the colours, the people, the buildings, the shape of the clouds, the water, the ships... Allen just listened, occasionally piping in with some comment or question._

_When the sun began to set and the sky's colour faded from blue to red and then gradually to inky black, Allen stopped him._

_He gave him his pendant, saying that there's no need for it anymore, along with the key to the Apple's safe and a small diary. The last thing Kanda heard him say was "Thank you."_

* * *

Bookman listened in total silence to every word Kanda had to offer, barely daring to breathe and unmoving as stone as if the noise of either one might make him miss something important, despite Kanda's strong, baritone voice being so hard to miss.

He waited for a few beats after the man finished, listening for more, but that was it.

He finally exhaled slowly, appearing to deflate as his rigid shoulders sagged, and it sounded painfully loud to his ears in the quiet room, of which only the flicker of the fire and patter of rain otherwise interrupted the silence. He leaned his back against the wall behind him, but the contact felt strangely foreign, like it wasn't even there and he was about to fall straight from the precipice of a perilous cliff.

"I see..." he murmured, and he might have cringed at the rasping hollow of his own voice if he was a less practiced man at repressing emotion. "I guess it was just arrogance then... assuming I could actually fix the damage the Apple inflicted."

Three years. He'd bought Allen that much more time, at least, but it was still _thirty_ years too soon...

Kanda watched him in silence, waiting for the Bookman to get himself back under control. He could see how the emotions swirled inside him. He stood up and walked to the cabinet on the left - very western, but he didn't really care - and took out a flask of sake and two cups. Lavi seemed to calm himself meanwhile, so he sat down next to him and poured them both a little of the alcohol.

"Here," Kanda pushed on of the cups towards him with a calm smile. He drowned his share without waiting for the redhead, grimacing at the taste. He would probably never get used to it. "I should thank you - for giving us as much time as you did," he paused, taking a deep breath. "So, thank you, for giving him time to live through happier times."

Bookman accepted the cup mutely, downing it in much the same way. He didn't really taste it. All he could feel was how it burned his throat on the way down.

He wasn't even sure what he should say in response to Kanda - _Kanda_ of all people - smiling and thanking him, and even sort of offering comfort in his own aloof, off-handed way. Feeling so unsteady in the first place didn't help matters. His hand still refused to stop trembling, but he hoped it wasn't noticed.

"It was nothing, I just-" He couldn't even finish. His words died into a choked sob as what composure and self-control he'd had left to cling to caved all at once, covering his face with one hand self-consciously. Clenching his teeth so tight they hurt didn't help much to stifle the pitiful sounds that heaved from his chest and made his shoulders quake.

He didn't want to cry, but he _certainly_ didn't want to cry in front of anyone, least of all Kanda, even more.

 _Bookmen don't grieve. Bookmen_ don't _grieve. Bookmen DON'T grieve. You're a Bookman, pull yourself together!_

It was useless. The harder he tried to reign back control, the worse it got; fighting free for all its overwhelming worth; battering against him like tsunami waves against a shore, knocking over anything in its path, and he was _drowning_ underneath it, helplessly suffocating.

He didn't want to even give Kanda the slimmest chance at trying to comfort him. Giving in meant he needed it, and needing it meant he cared. Bookmen _did not care._ He tried to think through the storm of emotions for something else. Something to keep Kanda busy and away from him while he tried to regain himself.

"I'm sorry," he choked out, hoarse words barely even understandable around the tightness in his throat, "but can you make sure my apprentice is kept out?"

Kanda nodded mutely and stood up, pausing as he touched the door.

"Was it worth it?" he asked, unable to look back at the man, "All the time you pushed him away?"

Was that meant to be some tough-love form of comfort - the same thing he'd been trying to keep Kanda from doing - or a scathing burn? Bookman actually _laughed_ somewhat, an unpleasantly manic, fractured sort of bark lined in sharp edges.

"Would it have been worth it to never have known him as you did?" he rebuked alternatively. He didn't bother with trying to explain all the intricacies of his Clans rules or what may have happened if he'd tried to be the exception to them. It was none of Kanda's damn business anyway, and demotion was not the biggest thing to be feared. "Don't talk like you didn't want us apart back then. I did what was necessary. Nothing more."

Kanda smirked at him and walked out the door, where he found the kid familiarly trying to eavesdrop. Grabbing the bookman's apprentice like a little pup, he dragged him away from the house, closing the door with his foot. The faint noise of the boy's protests echoed throughout the house until another sound of door sliding open and close drowned it out and Bookman was left alone with his thoughts.

Strangely enough, the short burst of biting banter helped somewhat, as much as he hated to admit it. Bookman felt like he could breathe again, just a little better than before. A snatch of air in the churning waves of his grief.

He sobbed for a good while, off and on. He wasn't sure for how long, but he'd hazard a guess that it was long enough to annoy. His throat felt raw, but the pain was preferable to the woundless ache in his chest.

He dug through his bag when he finally managed to quell borderline hysterical sobbing into silent tears and faltering breaths. He pulled out a pipe, stuffed the end and lit it, sputtering on the first inhalation and trying not to remember how he'd done the same thing the first time Allen introduced him to tobacco. The redhead wondered if Kanda would mind the smell, then decided he didn't really care at the moment. Maybe Kanda wouldn't either.

He tried not to think of anything at all, but it was hard. Allen had been his first real love. Certainly the only one he'd been serious about. There had been others, but after the first time he'd left, no goodbyes, he'd never dared to make the same mistake of getting close like that again. It was too painful and unfair.

The thought that he could have been there, been able to do something to give him a little more time, crossed his mind, but he knew better than to dwell over all of the impossible _what if_ s. But it still crossed his mind, and it shouldn't have.

"Look at what you did to me," he muttered, holding the mouthpiece of his pipe between clenched teeth. "What you do to people like Yuu and I. People like us were supposed to be untouchable. I bet you're so fuckin' smug with yourself in the afterlife, if there is one. Smiley, sunshiny bastard. I'll be the best damn Bookman this world ever saw. Prove all the stuff you said about me being a lie is true, just to spite you. Wipe that idiot look right off your clownish face."

Bookman sighed a cloud of smoke, closing his eye for a while and reveling in the silence and loneliness of the room. It had been long enough. Maybe even too long. His eyes were dry and he'd ceased to feel the shards of anguish. The only thing he could find when he searched was blissfully empty neutrality, and that was as it should be.

Bookman stood, rubbing the back of his neck as he left the room to go find Kanda, who was still keeping a sharp, commanding eye on his temporarily complacent brat apprentice.

He said nothing at all about his breakdown even in vague passing, looking stone-faced and simply offering up, "Thank you again, for the hospitality, but I think we've bothered you enough. We can find our own place to stay without imposing. After all, you said not to get too comfortable."

The assassin raised an eyebrow in question while masterfully ignoring the brat's heated glare.

"How long will you be staying in Nihon?" he asked after a while of pondering. He looked satisfied, maybe even smug, but Bookman was not entirely sure.

"Hard to say," Bookman hummed, "but Nihon is a small country with a lot of conflict. Probably for some time to come." He paused then, something occurring to him. "By the way, whatever happened to the Apple? He entrusted it to you, I suspect."

Another smirk. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Kanda asked cockily, the look from so many years ago returning briefly to his face. He stared off into the distance then, smelling the smoke-filled air. The wrinkles around his eyes and on his forehead deepened and his mouth formed a thin line. "I will... need a favor. In time. A favor from which we are both going to benefit from but I need a stable way to contact you. Is that possible?"

Bookman pondered for a few moments in silence, weighing his options in his mind, before he sat down, rummaging for some parchment and a quill.

"There's an island called Jeju, a little less than two hundred miles off the coast directly west of us, no more than maybe five days out, with a large mountain directly at its center the people of Korea call Hallasan. On its north side halfway between the base of the mountain and the coast is the Gwaneumsa Buddhist temple, the oldest temple on the island. If you can't find me directly, that's your best bet."

When he was done with what he was scribbling down - which looked like a bunch of obscure pictures and symbols - he handed it to the man.

"Ask if anyone there recognizes what's on this paper. You'll know when you find them. They'll be sure to get the message through. Be sure not to lose it before then."

Kanda took the paper, frowning a little bit as he inspected it. He nodded then and folded it, putting it into one of the pouches on his belt.

"I will try," he said, his eyes staring off into the distance as he absentmindedly tugged on the familiar pendant around his neck. Shaking whatever thoughts had him space out, Kanda looked at the boy at his side, his dark eyes silently judging. "Keep an eye out on him," he grumbled, reminding him so much of Kanda's old self, "he's noisy just like you."

The redhead smirked as he stood, adjusting the bag on his shoulder. "Believe me, I'm way ahead of you."

He smacked his fist on top of the kid's head a little hard and ground his knuckles down, earning a near-silent, teeth-clenched, "Ow, ow, ow, ow!", before snatching something from one of the boy's hands and tossing it in Kanda's direction.

"Here, catch. I believe this is yours." Glancing between Kanda and Daisuke, and ignoring the pouting glare that Daisuke gave him, he added, "My apprentice doesn't know when to stop using his sticky fingers."

Bookman lightly pushed the kid to the door, ignoring his grumbling, and paused in the doorway to look back for a last time.

"I suspect I might see you again at least once again, out in the fields of battle, before all is said and done. Take care of yourself," he paused, the ghost of a familiar mischievousness tugging at his lips as he went to leave, "Yuu-chan~"

"You should know that it is a custom to cut the thief's hand off when they are caught stealing," he glared at the boy, clenching his hand around a small carven lotus flower. "Make sure he remembers that," he said to Lavi. "And stop calling me that, you stupid rabbit!"

It never got old.

They left shortly after, but Lavi couldn't deny himself a few pokes and prods that sent the assassin into fits of grumbles. He half expected to see the man shake his fist at them as they made their slightly hasty retreat. Instead he saw that pondering look on his face, and noticed the hand fingering the pendant again.

* * *

A year and a half has passed since he last saw Kanda. The wars were happening more often and on bigger scales. He stayed neutral, observing as always.

Until a letter arrived.

A man came to where Bookman was staying with his apprentice, greeting him in a language known only within their Clan before presenting the letter to him.

The redhead recognized the pendant that was left with it, knowing that it could only be from Kanda, but why he sent the pendant as well was beyond him, unless it was merely for recognition's sake.

He carefully unwrapped it and opened the letter, single eye scanning its contents. It was deliberately vague, but short and to-the-point.

_Allen wanted you to have it. You'll find something interesting in the place where he liked to fly._

_Don't mess it up. Farewell._  
_-K_

Bookman plucked the pipe from his lips, blowing out a long billow of smoke. _Farewell_. Somehow that felt like a finality. That he would neither see nor hear from Kanda ever again. Not in this life, at least. Kanda was no longer of this world.

_The place where Allen liked to fly._

He closed his eye for a moment. Galata Tower. That was where it would be. He told his apprentice to get him parchment and a quill, and spent some time with creating an artistic-looking letter, much like the one he had shown Allen and Emil more than a decade earlier. When he was finished, he handed it to the messenger.

"Take this to the Top. I'll also need a replacement here to pick up this record in my place. One of the Pieces has fallen into calm waters."

The man nodded understanding, taking his message, and soon he was gone.

* * *

Within only a few days, he and his apprentice left the country by ship, taking them south around mainland Asia, and then far west past India and Arabia, through the Red Sea and Egypt, until they reached Constantinople by way of another ship, through the Aegean Sea and the Marmara.

It was there that he found the Galata Tower, still standing firm watch over the main den, though Bookman didn't invite himself to it and didn't suspect anyone occupying it now would recognize him anyway, nor the other way around. Just as promised, Bookman found the Apple secured away in the tower, where a marker made visible only with special eyes like his gave away its hiding place.

Sure enough, it was there, untouched and unseen by anyone else since it was hidden there all those years before. He smirked wistfully as he held it again, but all the same he felt nothing but a small spark of amused irony.

"After all that, and you both still trusted it to me at the end. Fools, the both of you, putting that kind of faith into a bookman." He shook his head, and stowed the item away into his bag where it wouldn't be seen by interested eyes, before stepping back out.

He didn't know if Allen had received a burial with a proper gravestone or not, never having bothered to ask, but he didn't go searching for one. Visiting graves was for the sentiment of it, and bookmen did not long for the dead.

As quickly as they entered Constantinople, they were gone again, the redhead mentally mapping the road to where the needed to go to store the Apple away, where it would be kept safe and hidden from anyone who might want it.

"Sensei?"

"Hm?" He felt his apprentice's curious eyes burning on his back, but he kept looking forward, nudging his horse along.

"That letter... it was from that man, right? The Assassin's Mentor that we met in Nihon."

"It was," Bookman nodded.

"And who was this... 'Allen' person?"

An exhalation that swirled outward a plume of smoke. "A blot of ink that the world will eventually forget, such is the price of existence."

A hum. "But not us, right?"

Bookman smiled with something dangerously close to fondness. "No, not us. Bookmen never forget, but neither do we mourn."

"Hm."

Silence.

"However…" One uncovered eye glanced back, over his shoulder. "There's nothing to say one can't have a favorite book that's already been written."

"Do you have a favorite book, Sensei?"

Another long huff of smoke. "Yes."

"Which one?"

"It's a story that ends in three kinds of tragedy; of a Nightmare clad in a tempest of black, a Scribe splashed red under consuming flame of forbidden truths, and a Demon shrouded in white shielding the wrongfully damned." A hand lightly traced to his stomach in reminiscence, where a scar was hiding. "The Nightmare lost two loves and quieted with none to welcome everything he was the same way again. The Scribe became what he forever strived to be at the cost of what he wanted. And the Demon perished to forever take away from them the warmth of the sun. Perhaps one day, you'll get to read it."

* * *

 

**End**


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